Haus25 at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City — Courtesy: Pierson Commercial
By Joshua Burd
A restaurant group is bringing a Mexican eatery and tequila bar to Jersey City, where it has leased 8,000 square feet at a new apartment tower built by Veris Residential Inc.
According to Pierson Commercial, which brokered the transaction, Meximodo – Cocina Mexicana & Tequila Bar will offer a full-service indoor and outdoor dining space at Haus25 at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive. The eatery will help anchor the ground-floor retail space at the recently completed, 750-unit building in the downtown, which is now leased up after opening last year to strong demand from renters.
Pierson Commercial’s Robert Mackowski and Ryan Starkman arranged the lease on behalf of the landlord and tenant, respectively. They noted that Meximodo, which is opening its flagship location in Metuchen this summer, is part of Le Malt Hospitality Group, whose concepts include Le Malt Lounge in the Colonia section of Woodbridge, Le Malt Royale in Red Bank and the soon-to-be opened Le Malt Imperiale on Staten Island.
“Haus25, with its sleek architecture and 37,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space, is a trophy-quality asset with highly desirable market coordinates and demographics that appeal to tenants seeking entry into — or an expansion within — the Hudson Gold Coast region in general and Jersey City specifically,” said Mackowski, a retail broker. “We welcome Meximodo as our food-and-beverage anchor and look forward to their opening in summer 2024.”
In addition to a combined interior and exterior space, the restaurant will feature 21-foot ceiling heights and a bar with one of the largest tequila selections in the New York metro area, Pierson Commercial said.
“As part of its business strategy, Le Malt was seeking to establish a high-profile Jersey City presence and Haus25, as one of the city’s top-five-tallest landmark mixed-use properties, offered the ideal opportunity to do so,” said Starkman, a vice president with Pierson Commercial, who also represented the operator in its Meximodo lease in Metuchen. He added that the space is adjacent to the main residential lobby entry, enhancing Meximodo’s presence and visibility.
“We are thrilled to be joining Haus25 to anchor the luxury residential property’s commercial-space component and introducing Jersey City residents and visitors alike to an innovative dining experience that brings our guests on a journey through Mexico,” said Saurabh Abrol, Le Malt’s chief operating officer and president. “Serving as a backdrop to our locally sourced ingredients and spirits collection is a vibrant and warm atmosphere that showcases Mexican culture.”
Mackowski, meantime, touted the high foot traffic at Haus25 as a key draw for retail and restaurant tenants, citing the nearby employee base of 97,000 on top of a residential population of almost 180,000 within a two-mile radius. The firm is marketing additional retail spaces of 2,799 and 3,218 square feet that can be combined, as well as a mezzanine space with a dedicated elevator, stairs and connectivity to the ground-floor spaces.
“The downtown Jersey City effect continues to thrive and, as a result, the introduction of Haus25’s available new construction is attracting several name-recognition retailers at the local, regional and national levels as well as New York City concepts considering an extension to Manhattan’s sixth borough,” Mackowski said.
