SL Green Realty has snagged a celebrity hot spot for a Midtown tower.
Nello, which shuttered its Upper East Side location last year after allegedly being on the hook for millions in back rent and utility bills, will relocate to a retail berth at 1350 Sixth Ave., a postwar high-rise at West 55th Street.
The move, first reported by the New York Post, will install Nello in a 3,800-square-foot space addressed as 62 W. 55th St. that was occupied from 2019 till last year by eatery Bice Cucina.
Previously based from 1992 to 2024 at 696 Madison Ave. between East 62nd and East 63rd streets, Nello will have a 15-year lease in its new home for which it will reportedly pay around $300 per square foot a year. An early-summer opening is expected.
The move to Midtown comes after a flurry of real estate moves by restaurant owner Thomas Makkos, whose family reportedly made millions through a sprawling Central Park food cart empire and later leveraged their wealth into commercial buildings on Ninth Avenue in the Garment District and elsewhere.
In November Makkos listed his triplex condo at Midtown’s Galleria tower for $11.5 million, though he took the five-bedroom home off the market in mid-March after there were no takers. The unit’s asking price did not change along the way.
In the winter Makkos also went into contract to sell 349 W. 37th St., the longtime home of his family’s business, M&T Pretzel, for an undisclosed amount. An entity linked to Tribeca-based Vandrax Technologies has filed plans to develop a 115-unit condo on a parcel made up of the site and a next-door parking lot that is expected to sell $214 million in apartments.
Makkos and restaurateur Nello Balan were partners for years at the original Nello before reportedly having a falling out and parting ways in 2015. Balan died in 2023.
Known for its pricey dishes and VIP clientele—Jay-Z, Paris Hilton and Sting were habitues—the old Nello was situated on a high-end shopping block. Fashion house Dolce & Gabbana opened there this month, while jewelry boutique Van Cleef & Arpels debuted a new store on the same stretch in December. Luxury accessories brand Hermes has a boutique there too.
The new location, which is in a tower with outposts of the chains Joe & the Juice and Pret A Manger, does seem to exude a different kind of vibe, though longtime media power-lunch bistro Michael’s is tucked farther down West 55th.
No. 1350, a 35-story, 601,000-square-foot tower completed in 1966, is currently 76% leased, according to the data service provider CoStar. Upstairs tenants include the financial firm Howden, a global reinsurance company, and others. SL Green, the city’s largest office owner, has owned the tower since 2007.
SL Green had no comment by press time. And a message left for Makkos was not returned by press time. But James Famularo, the broker with Meridian Capital Group who represented Nello in the transaction (Meridian’s Jacob Mayer repped SL Green), said the new address is a “perfect fit.”
“[It has] strong foot traffic and proximity to some of the city’s best restaurants and retail,” said Famularo, who added that the deal “progressed quickly and smoothly.”
