Restaurant Space Available: Palais Royale, buildings for sale
This is the next installment of Restaurant Space Available, an occasional feature spotlighting Capital Region properties that may be purchased or leased for use as a restaurant. Owners or real-estate agents who wish to have a restaurant space considered are invited to send details to .
The properties: 162-168 Jefferson St., Albany.
The price: $2.925 million.
The narrative: The legendary dive bar Palais Royale in the Hudson/Park neighborhood and three adjoining buildings, including one with one of the most eccentric apartments in Albany, are for sale as a package. Juan Picasso - who bought the Palais in 2005 following the death of its beloved eminence, Rocky Nigro, whose family ran the bar for 75 years - already owned one of the buildings on the block, and the Palais purchase included a small building with apartments next door. John DiBlasi, the agent handling the package sale, said Picasso has not made public why he is selling. The location for a bar scene in the 2023 movie "The Good Mother," starring Hillary Swank, the Palais was famed as a place that served everyone from the working class to governors, with food once limited to little more than canned soup and Jiffy Pop popcorn. In recent decades the Palais has been a late-night hangout for hipsters and students. Picasso promised to keep the original vibe, and the Palais today looks cleaned-up but largely the same, densely bedecked with beer memorabilia and retaining its pool table, though missing the shuffleboard table from years long past. There are seven apartments total in the four buildings including the ground-floor space in 168 Jefferson St. that previously was a commercial unit but became Picasso's home. It features a bedroom in the former walk-in cooler, complete with original insulated wood door, an open plan across 1,860 square feet, three-bay restaurant sink, its own 10-seat bar and a wild bathroom with deep stainless soaking tub that looks like it's from an NFL locker room or physical-therapy clinic.
The details: DiBlasi said Picasso's goal is to sell all four buildings and the currently operating Palais, including all of its equipment, furniture, fixtures, decor and more. Picasso has not discussed whether he'd be willing to lease the Palais to another operator without a real estate sale or otherwise break up the parcels. The Palais is at 164 Jefferson, with a one-bedroom apartment upstairs; 162 Jefferson has two apartments totaling four bedrooms; there are two one-bedrooms in 166 Jefferson; and 168 Jefferson has the large street-level apartment and two units totaling three bedrooms upstairs.
Info: John DiBlasi, DiBlasi Real Estate, 518-857-1505 and online.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024, 3:35 PM.
