Mystery investor snags Naked Lunch bar in Soho

Saloon named after William S. Burrough's novel goes for $3 million

Interiors of 17-19 Thompson Street
Interiors of 17-19 Thompson Street

An unidentified buyer has picked up a long-turnning Soho taproom for millions over its previous sale price.

The ground-floor co-op that housed the Naked Lunch, named after William S. Burrough’s drug-fueled novel of the same name, went for $3 million, Crain’s reported. Located at 17-19 Thompson Street, near the corner of Grand Street, the buyer’s identity was not immediately clear.

The Miami-based Regent Cocktail Club is reportedly already wheeling and dealing to lease the 125-person space, according to Crain’s.

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James Famularo of Eastern Consolidated represented the sellers Patrick Fahey and Jeffrey Surut. The pair opened the watering hole in the mid 1990s, when the property was divided into separate co-ops, then purchased the 3,000-square-foot space 10 years later for “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Crain’s reported.

A recent dip in foot traffic prompted the decision to sell, Fahey told Crain’s.

Several Soho watering holes have dried up recently, including the two-story MercsBar at 151 Mercer Street that shut its doors due to structural problems in the fall of last year, and  Milady’s bar at 160 Prince Street, which closed earlier this year[Crain’s] Angela Hunt