An owner of two trendy Italian eateries in the Flatiron District may be setting his sights on Greenwich Village.
David Switzer, a partner with chef Stefano Secchi in the six-year-old award-winning Rezdora on East 20th Street and sister restaurant Massara that opened around the corner on Broadway last year, has purchased 86 University Place for $8 million, according to a deed that hit city records Monday.
Though the deal, which went into contract July 16 and closed March 26, was technically completed by shell company 86 UP LLC, Switzer signed the deed. The transaction included about $6 million in financing from Derby Copeland Capital, based on the city register.
The seller of the 5-story, 7,000-square-foot mixed-use site was Gould Investors, which appears to have taken a big hit on the deal. The Long Island-based firm paid about $14 million for the midblock property between East 11th and East 12th streets in 2015, based on the city register.
Why the value of the property, which does not sit in a landmarked district as much of the neighborhood does, tumbled by more than 40% in a decade is unclear. But the site does contain four apartments, at least some of which have been rent-stabilized in the past, based on state housing records. Buildings with rent-regulated units have dragged down some investors since the 2019 passage of pro-tenant laws.
New York University students and fans of moderately-priced Tex-Mex cuisine may recognize No. 86 as the longtime home of El Cantinero, a Christmas-lights-lined eatery known for fajitas, tacos and cold margaritas. The two-level, 3,500-square-foot restaurant opened in 1991, according to news reports, and closed around New Year’s Eve.
Decades ago the prewar building was home to the human hair wig business of German immigrant Bernhard Mittelstaedt, whose name remains carved on the cornice.
Known for its handmade pasta, Rezdora earned Michelin stars for four consecutive years, from 2021 to 2024. And based on its policy of opening reservations at midnight a month before the desired date, its dishes are in high demand.
Owning sites instead of leasing them, as is the wont of many restaurateurs, seems to be the playbook of the Switzer-Secchi team. A Switzer-linked shell company is the landlord of Rezdora’s home at 27 E. 20th St., which it snapped up in 2018 for $7.3 million, according to the register, and also is the owner of Massara’ site at 913 Broadway, which it acquired in 2022 for $7.5 million.
For its part, Gould Investors has a portfolio that spans Florida, South Carolina and Alabama as well as New York, where its sites have included office buildings 260 11th Ave. and 529 W. 26th St. Gould purchased the pair for about $80 million in 2006 and unloaded them for $37 million to Vornado Realty Trust in 2015, according to the city register.
Reached by phone, Keith Gould, a senior vice president of Gould Investors and the executive at the firm who signed the deed for 86 University, confirmed the sale of the property but declined to comment on its particulars, including why his firm offloaded the site. An email sent to Rezdora was not returned by press time, and the restaurant’s phone number does not accept messages.
