Real Estate and Food meld in the MePa

This one isn't Brooklyn-centric, but it was too interesting to pass up. This week's Magazine has an article on a restaurant investor who's been involved with 5 Ninth and several other restaurant ventures. His latest one is called Fatty Crab, on Hudson St.

Rick Camac apparently has the golden touch - he doesn't have any trouble finding investors for his next 'it' restaurant, including a Corcoran real estate broker - Wendy Maitland. To quote her,

Wendy Maitland, a Manhattan real-estate broker and an early investor in both 5 Ninth and Fatty Crab, seems to agree with Camac's view. "I could've flipped three condos that would've brought a faster, easier, clearer return than 5 Ninth," she said. "But this is more creative." A longtime West Village resident, Maitland dines at 5 Ninth, often with clients, an average of once a week. "If we had a chef who was making food I didn't love, it wouldn't be any fun, but this makes me much happier than my stock portfolio."