The Hugh
Location: Midtown Manhattan
Building: 601 Lexington Avenue
Partner: BXP
Project Specs
# of SQ Ft: 27, 000
# of Vendors: 15+
Tasked to transform an existing 80’s food court into a sophisticated dining space, Local Culture designed and constructed a new culinary destination within the food desert of Midtown East. One of the main complexities of this project was that it required conceptualizing not only the leasable square footage but designing with city regulations around a privately owned public space in mind. From gut-renovating the interior to overseeing the individual design and construction of vendor kiosks, Local Culture created a multi-tenant food and beverage concept with 15 restaurants including a wine bar, a cocktail bar, a speakeasy, and a craft beer tap room surrounding a large central seating area.
The Hugh is a culinary collective highlighting the work of award-winning and innovative chefs. With elevated culinary experiences for any occasion, The Hugh allows for food and beverage programming to seamlessly transition from breakfast to lunch to dinner.
Project Scope
Planning & Development
Determine vision for the former food court
Tailor design to a young office worker.
Design with multi service capablities (Day to Night Transition)
Construction Management
Choose designs teams
interviewed construction company
Partnered with developer on all aspects of construction
Curation and Leasing
Identification of market hall vendors
Created leasing agreements with focus on protecting managing and pricing the ability to remove underperforming vendors
Creating deal terms with an emphasis on pricing of rents to attract long-term vendors
Manage all licensee legal issues
Manage licensee selection and termination
Sought and received a difficult to obtain full liquor permit for the space.
Management and Reporting
Negotiated point of the sale contract
Built daily management team
Manage all marketing, web and social media
Manage all facility maintenance
Oversees Monthly rent collection
Manage all required reporting