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Test Kitchen Space at 1000 Dean in Limbo After 3rd Ward Closure in Bushwick

By Sonja Sharp | October 15, 2013 10:15am
 After months of buildup, the mammoth Studebaker Building at 1000 Dean St. plans to open its doors to office tenants Dec. 1.
After months of buildup, the mammoth Studebaker Building at 1000 Dean St. plans to open its doors to office tenants Dec. 1.
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DNAinfo/Sonja Sharp

CROWN HEIGHTS — The sudden shuttering of 3rd Ward's Morgan Avenue shop late last week sent shivers down Dean Street in Crown Heights, where the group is an anchor tenant at the hotly anticipated creative co-working space under development between Franklin and Classon avenues. 

"We don’t really know yet what’s happening," a source close to the 1000 Dean St. project told DNAinfo New York. "It really sucks for us." 

Their enormous, Wonka-esque test kitchen and culinary incubator won a $1.5 million grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation. As of Friday, nothing about the award or the partnership had changed, an EDC spokeswoman confirmed. 

But larger questions loom about 3rd Ward's ability to open and operate the mammoth project at 1000 Dean after the Bushwick-based arts and co-working space padlocked its popular Morgan Avenue operation, and so far said it will not be able to offer refunds to any of its members.  

"They’ve left people in the lurch," the source said. "They’re quite a toxic brand." 

Jason Goodman, owner of 3rd Ward, did not respond to an email for comment on the future of the test kitchen at 1000 Dean, though he and the 3rd Ward team referenced the project in their appeal to accredited investors on Fundrise.  

"The current operating losses and cash deficit are primarily due to three factors," the appeal said. Among them is the fact that "the development of the culinary project required advance spending."