Jason Stevens says he’s a regular guy who can’t cook, clean or decorate. So how did this former banker turn 5,000 square feet of industrial loft space into a community destination?
With a bar, coffee shop, forthcoming nightclub, WiFi lounge and tapas menu, Stevens’s Retreat is attempting to be the ultimate gathering place.
“It’s not home, it’s not work. It’s that other place,” he told GO Brooklyn.
For Stevens, that “other place” can sometimes serve as both work and home. The bar closes at 4 am and the Coffee Box — the espresso counter situated in an old elevator shaft — opens at 6 am, and on occasion Stevens can be found taking a quick nap outside in his car.
Such dedication is new for Stevens, who called his lucrative banking job at Merrill Lynch, “a waking death.” He left it to open the Coffee Box last March. The bar, dubbed Rebar, followed in December.
“[At Merrill Lynch], I dreaded getting up every day and couldn’t even find a way to stay awake. I could’ve floated along forever. For me, I won when I looked that big check in the face and said no. Now, I work probably twice the number of hours.”
Stevens started designing Retreat in his head seven months before he quit Merrill Lynch last February. He hasn’t stopped since, despite the burden on his family.
“I’ve basically been an absentee father for almost a year now,” said Stevens, referring to his wife Genevieve and 3-year-old twins, Benjamin and Olivia.
“My wife is just amazingly strong to not say, ‘Hey, you’ve abandoned me.’”
Opening in DUMBO presented Stevens with an opportunity that other neighborhoods didn’t. With more affordable real estate and only a handful of bars and restaurants, he identified a need for a gathering place for the neighborhood’s unique cross section of artists, Manhattan transplants and Brooklynites.
Tucker Reed, director of the DUMBO Improvement District, agrees: “DUMBO is such a vibrant creative community with lots of different stuff — nooks and crannies. We’re really happy [to see Retreat] make adaptive use out of that space and encouraging public interaction and dialogue. We’re happy to have them.”
Stevens hopes Retreat will attract people to DUMBO for an experience they can’t find in other neighborhoods.
“For the most part, it has always been the Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights kind of thing,” he said. The crowd down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass “is in many ways a cross section of [those neighborhoods].” Stevens wants the community to make Retreat their own Brooklyn experience. “Our motto is ‘It’s your space.’”
The art gallery is Retreat’s hub, and the WiFi is free. With outlets for laptops every four feet, used books piled on shelves and plush vintage chairs and couches, locals are already taking advantage of the homey atmosphere.
“There isn’t that normal claustrophobia that exists in most cafes,” said writer Jeffrey Cretan, 27. “It’s so open, and not having to buy something every five minutes allows me to relax and get work done.”
Stevens sees the WiFi gallery, which takes up a third of Retreat’s overall space, as an opportunity to give back to the community.
“I really believe that public spaces are at a premium,” he said. “If I have an opportunity to create one, then I have an obligation. Especially in a neighborhood where art is such a unifying theme, that space should be a gallery.”
Recently, the gallery showcased panels by painter Pasqualina Azzarello. The panels previously comprised a 400-foot-long floral mural surrounding the condo development across the street. After the fence’s removal, Azzarello sliced it into individual pieces to showcase — and sell — on Retreat’s walls.
Next up for the gallery is an exhibit of wood carvings by a Retreat regular, 80-year-old DUMBO artist Dolphy Hazel.
Stevens also plans to showcase children’s art. “Other than schools, there are not a lot of places for Brooklyn child artists to exhibit,” he said. “If this neighborhood is serious about art, then it should be serious about art from the very beginning.”
He also wants to make sure that the needs of his older customers are being taken care of, too. Inside the wrought iron gates of Rebar, drinkers will find a warmly lit wooden cove that’s perfect for downing American microbrews, Belgian beers, organic wines and tapas.
“If I could have a fireplace, I would,” said Stevens. “But I’ve got 15 taps of beer — second best thing to keep you warm.”
In addition to the abundance of beer, the bar will attract guests with a weekly live jazz night, called On-air Retreat, which will feature a broad selection of sounds and styles including Cuban jazz, drum and bass, up-tempo bebop and covers.
On Feb. 10, the gallery will be converted into a dance floor for The Rockaholics, a band of “old guys with black leather jackets and tight jeans performing rock and roll covers,” said Stevens.
And that’s not all for Retreat. This summer, a full Northern Mediterranean tasting menu and GOOD, a specialty tea and sweets shop, will move in.
With so many options under one roof, Stevens hopes his customers will settle in and get comfortable. “There’s no reason to leave,” said Stevens. “We’re giving people a reason to stay in DUMBO.”
Retreat (147 Front St. between Jay and Pearl streets in DUMBO) is open Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 6 am until 2 am, Wednesday through Friday from 6 am until 4 am, Saturday from 9 am until 4 am and Sunday from 10 am until 2 am. For information call (718) 797-2322.
