State of Play Hospitality group has signed a lease to open Flight Club, a technology-enabled darts gaming facility, at 31 Union Square West in Flatiron, Manhattan. This will be the group’s first venue in Manhattan, and its ninth lease for the Flight Club brand in North America. The location will be a global flagship for the brand.
Flight Club will occupy a 10,700-square-foot space at 31 Union Square West, a 16-story Renaissance Revival building designed by architect Bruce Price. The building was constructed in 1902-03 as the headquarters of the Bank of Metropolis. It was designated a city landmark in 1988 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Photograph of 31 Union Square West (circa 1903), via nyc.gov
The brand’s new location is scheduled to open in late 2025, joining the building’s history of housing venues like Zippers nightclub in the early 1980s, Metropolis restaurant and club in the late 1980s, and Blue Water Grill from 1996 until recently.
Photograph of 31 Union Square West, via nyc.gov
“We’ve been looking for the right real estate opportunity to land Flight Club in New York for over five years, and this site has the potential to be a genuine landmark for the city and the group,” said Toby Harris, CEO of State of Play Hospitality. “Both 31 Union Square as a building and the stunning split level Flight Club space are as close to the physical brief for the brand that we could wish for. I’m confident that by complementing and retaining the character of the building, we will be able to do it justice.”
Since launching the first U.S. Flight Club in Chicago in 2018, State of Play has expanded the brand to Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Denver, with new venues set to open in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia in late 2024.
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I don’t think that black & white “photograph” is an actual photograph. (The guy in the lower right corner?) Maybe a lithograph? 🤷♂️
Wow! It’s been a long time, it’s still here and it will continue to be here. The building really has historical significance: Thanks.
Blue Water Grill closed far long ago than ‘recently’, and Republic even longer ago. Both have sat empty for years (greed, presumably), though fortunately didn’t suffer the fate of Coffee Shop, yet another Chase Bank…
Republic was a few doors down, and that space is now a good and fairly priced Korean bbq spot.
Is this post sponsored? I don’t get why sometimes YIMBY will highlight a new commercial lease being signed. This isn’t new construction or anything innovative—just typical churn of ground floor commercial space.
The Blue Water Grill space had been empty far longer than ‘recently’, though not as long as the Republic property, which has been vacant for at least 7 years. Greed, presumably. At least both restaurants didn’t suffer the fate of Coffee Shop, becoming yet another bank, Chase, in this event. Regardless of the fact that there was already another Chase two blocks away.
@Bob the builder: Almost definitely sponsored. Kind of weird, and wish they’d call this out.