It turns out that a steaming bowl of noodles may be an antidote to the city’s real estate woes. While ramen noodle restaurants — modeled after traditional noodle bars in Japan — have been in the city for ages, new noodle shops are popping up with increasing frequency, and they not only offer inexpensive meals for bargain-hungry diners but also a source of deals for brokers with retail leases to spare.
With luxury restaurant openings on the wane of late, some retail brokers say calls about spaces that could work for small, low-cost eateries are making up the bulk of their business right now.
“I have a listing at 176 Stanton Street that I’m showing to a noodle shop, and two others at 29 Essex and 284 Mulberry — both to noodle shops,” said James Famularo, senior executive managing director at Coldwell Banker Commercial Properties, who said he has seen a big increase in leases to low-cost restaurants.
“Last year, 50 percent of my tenants were high end and 50 percent were low end. Now it’s more like 100 percent low end,” said Famularo. “My properties that are $20,000 or $30,000 a month are not getting any phone calls, but the ones that are $2,000 to $4,000, I’m getting inundated with calls.”
Ramen shops don’t need much room: They tend to average around 800 square feet, brokers say. What’s more, the kitchen often is integrated into the main dining area and has counter seating. That’s part of the appeal for potential tenants looking for a relatively low overhead.
The space becomes even more attractive to a ramen tenant if it was once a restaurant because the necessary ventilation systems are usually in place.
“With noodle shops, you take a place that’s already a restaurant, add a little counter space, and you’re open for business,” said Famularo.
In the current economy, smaller also may equal better odds for profitability. “People are looking for small places because the chance of succeeding is better. The smaller it is, the easier it is to operate” and control expenses, said Roberto Camacho, director of commercial leasing at Buchbinder & Warren Realty Group who is getting ready to close a deal for a ramen shop in an 800-square-foot space at 198 Orchard Street.
“If it’s successful, you expand,” he said. (The noodle shop Ramen Setagaya, which has two locations in the East Village, recently opened a third at 90 University Place.)
The spaces that Camacho and Famularo are showing on the Lower East Side range from $65 to $85 a square foot, with the Mulberry Street space closer to $100 a square foot. But Famularo said the landlord might negotiate down to $85.
While the food at ramen shops is relatively cheap, it is still a far cry from the $1-a-packet dried noodles popular with students on shoestring budgets. Typical offerings feature handmade noodles and fresh ingredients for an average of about $9.50 a serving, with some places serving beer or sake.
So is there money to be made? Owners say yes, particularly if you try to stand out a bit.
“Turnover is quick, so having a large space is not necessary. There’s lots of foot traffic, and we have delivery,” said Martine LaFond, co-owner of Zuzu Ramen, which opened in March at 173 Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.
“But you have to differentiate yourself,” LaFond added. She said the restaurant draws families, younger crowds in the evening and “lots of Japanese clients.” (She said she hasn’t spotted any out-of-work Wall Streeters slurping soup so far.)
May Sterling, who will open May Chen Ramen in a 1,000-square-foot space at 119 Second Avenue next month, a few doors down from a sushi restaurant she owns, decided three years ago that she wanted to open a noodle restaurant but only recently found a chef she liked.
“It’s a good time for finding a spot,” she said. “There are lots of students in the neighborhood, so we’ll do well.”