A tower that for decades was considered one of the city’s premier corporate addresses may be acknowledging that it’s no longer the only game in town.
The high-rise 9 W. 57th St., a 50-year-old, slope-faced Plaza District tower that’s also known as the Solow Building, has added a tenants-only restaurant from the trendy Kent Hospitality Group on its 27th floor that opened today.
With Vista Restaurant and Bar, which replaces unused office space that has views of Central Park, landlord Soloviev Group becomes the latest owner of an older building to beef up its in-house culinary offerings as a way to attract and retain tenants, and perhaps boost rents.
Newer, rival office towers tend to have snazzy on-site eateries right out of the gate. For instance 1 Vanderbilt, the SL Green Realty-developed skyscraper that opened in 2020 and is now fully leased at prices that in some cases are reportedly $300 per square foot a year, features two food-focused amenities from chef Daniel Boulud: the restaurant Le Pavillion and the gourmet food hall Epicerie Boulud.
The developer of 9 W. 57th, the late Sheldon Solow, did operate the well-reviewed French restaurant Brasserie 8 ½ in the tower’s basement for decades. And Solow exhibited a knack for getting top dollar for some spaces. A decade ago Solow managed to land a private equity tenant at a then-lofty rent of $200 per square foot annually even though deals like that were few and far between. Indeed, the 50-story skyscraper reportedly faced a 30% vacancy rate for years.
Brasserie 8 ½ closed at the start of the pandemic and never reopened. An Italian-themed version, Cucina 8 1/2, opened in its place in 2022.
After Solow died in 2020, his son Stefan Soloviev (who prefers to go by what he claims is the original spelling of the family name) took over as chairman of the firm and appears to have made revamping 9 W. 57th a priority. The occupancy rate of the 1.7 million-square-foot travertine-and-dark-glass site near Fifth Avenue is currently 92%, according to data provider CoStar, much stronger than it’s been in years.
Investment firm Apollo Global Management, fashion house Chanel and theater chain owner Loews Corp., as well as Soloviev Group itself, are on the tenant roster.
For its part, Kent Hospitality Group, which has won financial backing from hoops superstar LeBron James, has earned awards and high praise recently, even as its founder, Jamal James Kent, died of a heart attack in June at 45.
The two restaurants it runs in another distinctive Manhattan tower, the Art Deco former AIG headquarters 70 Pine St. downtown—their names are Crown Shy and Saga—have both earned Michelin stars in the past few years. Similarly, KHG’s cocktail lounge on the 64th floor of 70 Pine, Overstory, has scored nods as one of the world’s best bars. All are open to the public, unlike Vista.
Vista, which serves breakfast and lunch, offers a turkey club for $22 and cod with mushrooms for $28. Cocktails include Strawberry Gold Rush, a bourbon-based drink, and Midtown, with rye and vermouth.
It’s not the only new KHG offering at 9 W. 57th. The company has also installed two smaller, more casual eateries, the Park View Cafe, also on the 27th floor, and Cafe V, near the West 58th Street entrance of the block-through building.
Soloviev, who could not be reached by press time, has also hired KHG to reinvent the subterranean space, known for its sweeping staircase and deep banquettes, where Cucina 8 ½ is now based. That replacement is scheduled to open later this year, a Soloviev spokeswoman said.
