Windows workers open first restaurant

Real Estate Weekly, Feb 2, 2005

Garrick-Aug Associates Store Leasing, Inc. has arranged a 10-year lease, with a five-year option, for a 4,000 s/f restaurant space for Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY), a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by former staff members of Windows on the World to respond to the needs of the staff and their families after 9/11.

It will be the group's first restaurant venture together and will focus on New American cuisine with global influences that include a rotating tasting menu to highlight ethnic cuisines from around the world.

Representing the landlord Kimwal Realty was Diane Mandel, managing director, Garrick-Aug Associates. The tenant was represented by two firms, Steven Kamali of Stevens & Co. and Citiwide Properties. The space was previously the site of a nightclub, Pangea.

"This deal represents a milestone for ROC and I am thrilled to have been a part of it," says Ms. Mandel. "During our negotiations, I got to know ROC co-founder and general manager, Fekkak Mamdouh, who had worked at Windows for years and had also been the head union shop steward there.

"This restaurant represents more than simply a new place of business for Mr. Mamdouh and his colleagues; it offers a collective sense of renewal to people who lost so much. I intend to be one of their first customers."

The designer for the restaurant will be Jim Walrod, who was responsible for the interiors of such restaurants as Pace and The Park, as well as the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. The architecture firm and project manager will be Dine, Murphy & Wood. The restaurant's anticipated date of opening is September 2005. The group has named the restaurant Colors.