Firehouse Subs, Wasabi Buffet destroyed in Five Points fire

[funwithteeth]

Maybe a new place will come along and regularly dump their grease out on the sidewalk.

Never ate at Wasabiâ€"I'm loathe of buffets in general. What's weird for me, personally, is that I live on Forbes, just a few blocks away. I slept through this entire thing.

[Riverrat]

Good riddance! What a tragic dump. I'd love for the entire strip to be leveled and redeveloped as a mixed use, multi level development with ground floor retail. It's in such a prime location to be such a waste of potential.

(That said, it's sad to hear of the job losses, but luckily there's Mellow Mushroom and Tijuana Flats...I'm sure they will be hiring soon!)

[BrooklynSouth]

Wow. Everyone should go see the destruction in person. It's pretty dramatic. At least it wasn't a historic structure!

What would everyone like to see go in here? I wish there were more condo units for professionals like me that work in the Brooklyn area. The number of people that work in the LPS, Fidelity, EverBank, and BlueCross buildings is in the thousands, but they probably don't live nearby. Then again, Five Points is turning into the "Margaret Street District", so more high-quality commercial space would probably be successful.

[fsujax]

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

[ben says]

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

Sounds about right.

[Timkin]

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

I doubt that this would result in the whole plaza being torn down.  If it were ,  a nice replacement restaurant would be great there. 

[BrooklynSouth]

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

I googled Sleiman and I see that he's a suburban-style developer. Is that what you mean?

[Tacachale]

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

I googled Sleiman and I see that he's a suburban-style developer. Is that what you mean?

The Sleimans primarily (though not exclusively) specialize in strip malls and similar suburban-style shopping centers. It seems unlikely that they would replace this strip mall with something better, especially if part of the current building can be saved.

[BrooklynSouth]

Perhaps the fire was caused by catastrophic irony? No disrespect to the owners of the lost businesses, but the example always given to explain the concept of irony is "the firehouse burned down".

[fsujax]

Yes.

I think there is an opportunity here for something much better to come along. Problem is Sleiman owns the shopping center.

I googled Sleiman and I see that he's a suburban-style developer. Is that what you mean?

[cline]

I would expect another lame strip mall reconstructed in the exact spot.

[fsujax]

so would I.

[urbaknight]

That stipid stripmall doesn't belong in five points anyway. But at least on one side you can walk directly onto the mall from the sidewalk without having to navagate across a busy parking lot. That's more than I can say for any stripmalls on ss.

They should tear down the rest of the mall and replace it with a five story apartment building. And the current businesses can occuipy the first floor. There's a convienent store, a laundry mat and another Chinese resturuant. Perfect businesses for an urban apartment building!

[ben says]

That stipid stripmall doesn't belong in five points anyway. But at least on one side you can walk directly onto the mall from the sidewalk without having to navagate across a busy parking lot. That's more than I can say for any stripmalls on ss.

They should tear down the rest of the mall and replace it with a five story apartment building. And the current businesses can occuipy the first floor. There's a convienent store, a laundry mat and another Chinese resturuant. Perfect businesses for an urban apartment building!

Amen!!!

[RiversideLoki]

I just drove by, BrooklynSouth is right, it's a mess! And awww maaaannnn the Trop is closed too. Where am I gonna get my sixers of Old Chub and my Naan bread?!