Will open in prime, long-vacant spot on Bleecker Street.

The West Village, where brokers swear rents are now firming up after months of softness, has a new tenant. Italy-based Pizza Roma recently signed a 10-year lease for 1,100 square feet at 263 Bleecker St., between Morton and Cornelia streets. The asking rent for the space, which includes a 1,100-square-foot basement, was $175 a square foot.

Pizza Roma is taking over the former home of the famous Zito’s Bakery, which had been at the space for 85 years until the no-carb craze pushed it out six years ago. Since then, The Hershey Co. leased the site but never opened a shop there.

Steve Rappaport, the Sinvin Realty broker who represented landlord 259 Bleecker, thinks the 18-month decline in area rents, which he puts at under 15%, has bottomed out. “It’s not going to go down any further,” he said, noting that food tenants such as Pizza Roma and Z Pizza are snapping up space.

The new eatery, which has outposts in Rome and Barcelona, is expected to open its first Manhattan location within four months and hopes to follow up with more New York eateries in coming months.

Marco Martini of Evans Real Estate represented the tenant in the transaction.

Source: CRAIN'S New York Business