More than one buyer is showing interest (reportedly) in the old Half Moon bar building, possibly for a restaurant... (Two downtown residents have been urging the Curry House in Red Hook to open a tandoori outpost there, but that seems too good to be true. Their Sunday and Tuesday night Hundi buffets are terrific.)
Interest in the former Strongtree location (where the rent reportedly jumped from $3,000 to almost $4,000 per month) across from the Amtrak station is also said to be restaurant-centric.
Meanwhile, on the other end of town, talk is that the principals behind Red Sparrow (going into the Keystone building) are veterans of Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, known for its innovative “scientific” kitchen. Next door, the rumor mill alternately says that either a sports bar or condos are slated for Ackerman’s, which would move a slowing business to the Bell’s Pond area... Considering that existing venues for watching sports seem pretty quiet except for a couple of hours on big game days, the first idea seems improbable, but you never know.
Lastly, the handsome building next to the DMV in the 500 block—which has housed Fabrications Quilt Shop for as long as I've been around—has a sign saying it's been sold, with big discounts on existing inventory.
UPDATE: A reader in a good position to know says that the buyers of the Ackerman’s building are an arts-minded couple from Northern Dutchess. So the sports bar rumor seems that much more unlikely.
