Harbor Drive isn’t the only nautical-themed lounge that (according to part two of Steve Lewis's interview with the owners, up today) has a high-profile silent investor: A while back we told you about a Williamsburg project that Smith & Mills and Moto designer John McCormick was doing with Jud Longell, a bartender at DuMont, along with a silent partner. According to Down by the Hipster, that silent partner was none other than Heath Ledger. “His untimely death put the project in jeopardy,” says Down by the Hipster. “But his father became executor of the estate and because he knew how much the project meant to Heath, he released the funds to finish construction.” DBTH is promising interior shots later today.

Heath Ledger’s Final Act [DBTH]
A New Port in the Storm (Part Two) [GNML]
Related: DuMont, Smith and Mills Players Head Toward McCarren

John McCormick, the designer behind the loveliness that is Smith and Mills and Tailor, has another project in the works, and it sounds like it’ll be every bit as quirky as his own restaurant Moto. He says that Jud Longell, a bartender at DuMont, and a silent partner have acquired Theresa’s Beauty Salon at 18 Bedford Avenue at Lorimer Street (right off McCarren Park) and are transforming it into what will eventually be a bistro of sorts. McCormick says he has in mind “a nautical design, but very subtle. I wanted to make the place look like it was a sunken transport ferry — there’d be a lot of distressing and rust and metal work.” The owners, meanwhile, have toyed with the idea of an “English-butcher-shop aesthetic.” No doubt that they'll all meet at some magical halfway point that will be far cooler than anything we can conjure up. Whatever the final look, it's safe to say that empty bar seats will be rare, especially after those McCarren Pool shows.