LeNell Smothers, owner of the eponymous wine and spirit shop in Red Hook, has been searching for a new space for her beloved store since last summer. Unfortunately — for LeNell and for all of her fans across the borough — her lease is about to run out and she’s still got nowhere to go.

In a note to the shop’s mailing list (which wasn’t published online), LeNell explains that her current landlord, who apparently works for Baluchi’s, won’t renew her lease because he is planning to open his own business in the space. (No official word on whether he’s planning on opening another branch of the Indian chainlet.) LeNell says that she had a draft lease for the vacant lot next to Good Fork, but it fell through this week. One of the owners of the lot is Red Hook developer Greg O’Connell, who owns the Fairway building, among many other properties. LeNell writes:

“We had architectural drawings, had agreed on basic lease points, and I’ve been thinking all along that we were just finalizing details. The space included the store on the first floor and the bar on the second. After discussing this project for nearly a year now, I get a visit from Greg recently telling me that he has just realized constructions costs will be more than he wants to pay. He won’t entertain thoughts of my partnering in building out the space. Just flat out pulled out at the last moment…which happens to be a few days before the end of my current lease. I’m in shock.”

The second space LeNell was considering won’t work out, either, as her landlord wants her to sign a five-year lease, and she’s looking for a ten-year commitment. At the moment, LeNell’s is covered in plastic sheeting, due to a leak that the landlord isn’t interested in fixing, but there’s still time to stop by. The lease is officially up this month, but in LeNell’s words, “I know it will take months for a formal eviction should it come to that.”

Photo by jasminepark