Rumor mill: High-end steakhouse for American Tobacco?

One squarely from the rumor mill: A well-placed source informs BCR that Capitol Broadcasting has landed a big fish for their American Tobacco project downtown.

Well, make that a big side of beef. Reportedly CBC is close to signing or has signed a high-end steakhouse as a signature restaurant for the ATC, to be located in the Power Plant facility now under renovation in the center of the campus.

The name attached to this rumor as a restauranteur is Ben Benson, one of the original investors in TGI Friday's and, for the past quarter-century, owner/operator of one of the most successful and popular steakhouses in Manhattan. Ben Benson's steakhouse only has a single NYC location, though; if he's really attached to this project in any way, we wonder if it might be under the Smith & Wollensky brand, in which Benson owns a minority share.

It's no secret that Capitol has been pursuing a high-end restaurant of some sort for the ATC, and has listed such a use on its web site as being a prime opportunity for the Power Plant building. The first floor includes almost 12,000 sq. ft. of leasable space that would be perfect for such an offering.

Such a signing would also be a coup for Capitol relative to its positioning with Struever Bros. (SBER), the ATC Phase II developer with whom CBC's relationship has turned icy at best.

SBER, you see, is planning to redevelop the coal shed at the ATC's north end into a site for -- guess what? -- a high-end restaurant, too. And the design of the north end of the ATC was designed to accomodate such a business, what with a direct line-of-sight view from the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Of course, Capitol would love to have such a jewel in its crown, one suspects.

Regardless of whether this Manhattan connection to a Bull City steakhouse turns out to be accurate, there's no question that we'll see an ongoing pursuit of such an establishment for the ATC. More on this one as it shakes out.

Comments

[Philipp Bouhler]

For Durham: High end steakhouse-no. Fried chicken-yes.

[KH]

^Joke??? Hahaha??? I guess??? Okay we'll call it a joke and leave it that...

Hopefully SBER can lure a Seafood Market to complement the steakhouse.

Can't developers just get along???

[Valerie]

Aren't we getting a Ruth's Chris over on the other side of Durham shortly? That's a lot of high-end steakhouse to support.

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

I disagree. South Durham is a world away if you live and work in downtown.

Best steaks in central Derm: magnolia grill flank steak or the steak frites at Rue Cler. Nana's isn't bad, either, and the one at that spanish place (Ocho?) on Ninth St. is better than you'd expect.

I live across from TK Tripps, which makes a big deal about their thermal induction infraread broilers, or something. Bottom line is it's gross -- I've had to send back my steak several times due to overcooking.

What Ambacco really needs is to bring back the Biscuit King.

[Valerie]

I consider the steakhouse trip an annual event, for someone else's birthday. I guess steak isn't so big for us that I'd like it to be a walkable destination. :) Two just seems like a lot, and there, you've named 3 or 4 more. Dang, people eat some steak!