After over a year of rumors and speculation, it's looking like the Four Seasons is close to deciding what it will do when its lease in the Seagram Building expires in July of next year. The Post now reports that Julian Niccolini, the co-owner of the iconic power lunch spot, confirms that he is seriously considering moving the restaurant south to 280 Park Avenue, as was rumored back in February. He tells the paper that "We will make a decision..by the end of next week" about that space, and says he hasn't been in negotiations with "anybody else" about any other space, except, of course, for his negotiations with Aby Rosen, the landlord of the Seagram Building.
According to the Post, even if Niccolini and co-owner Alex von Bidder do decide on moving to 280 Park, it's not quite a done deal. The large restaurant space, formerly home to the sushi bar Haru, has allegedly had a handful of big names, including Drew Nieporent, Stephen Starr, Jose Garces, and Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield, knocking at its door.
Rosen, who has been tight-lipped about the whole thing, will only say that he has "not made a decision" about who will take the Four Seasons space when the restaurant's lease expires – either the Four Seasons, or someone else. Either way, he's been making plans to renovate the nearly 60-year-old space on his own.