The home of one of the East Village’s oldest dive bars has a new owner.
The building, 224 Ave. B, where Mona’s has served drinks to jukebox-grooving and pool-playing patrons since the early 1990s, was sold by Herbert Hirsch to The Sabet Group for $13 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city register Tuesday.
The 6-story, 26-unit mixed-used walkup building, which offers a nail salon in its other storefront, went into contract Dec. 23 and closed March 24, the register shows. Sabet helped pay for the building with a $8.5 million loan from Citizens Bank, according to the register.
Hirsch, who did not return a call for comment by press time, purchased the prewar site in 1992 for what appears to be $600,000, records show.
No apartments are currently available at No. 224. But a two-bedroom, one-bath unit leased in December for about $3,700 a month, according to StreetEasy. It wasn’t immediately clear if the building contains rent-stabilized units, a factor that has often forced some investors to unload sites after they realize that the rent revenue they can squeeze from properties is limited.
What if anything will become of Mona’s, one of several popular longtime watering holes named for women—other examples include Sophie’s at 507 E. Fifth St., Phebe’s Tavern at 361 Bowery and Lucy’s at 135 Ave. A, which is still in business despite its own building recently changing hands—is unclear. Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, a Mona’s employee said he was not aware of any plans for it to close.
Monday nights at Mona’s, which is near East 14th Street, have featured live bluegrass music and other informal concerts for years.
The Sabet Group, a real estate arm of the Sabetfard family, has been busy in the East Village and nearby neighborhoods. In 2019 the firm acquired 24 Ave. A, a similar mixed-use site, for $15.8 million, and in 2023 it tacked on a pair of properties formerly owned by Kushner Cos. at 504 and 508 E. 12th St. for $19.5 million, records show. In December the Garment District-based landlord also purchased 140 E. 17th St. near Union Square for $16.3 million.
For his part, Hirsch previously developed 205 E. 16th St., a 32-unit condo on Stuyvesant Square that avails itself of a former parish house for nearby St. George’s church.
When reached by phone, Sabet Principal Albert Sabetfard had no comment.
