Park Slopers Convince Developer to Replace 5th Ave Key Food With Similar Supermarket

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Avery Hall Investments (AHI) has agreed to a build a supermarket with about 19,000 square feet of shopping space at the site of the current Fifth Avenue Key Food, the Key Food Stakeholder Group announced Tuesday.

The current Key Food at 120 5th Ave. has about 26,000 square feet of shopping space, and another 4,000 square feet of space dedicated mostly to storage and mechanical equipment, according to the developer.

The new supermarket would take up around 22,000 square feet, including non-shopping areas.

AHI has also agreed to build more affordable housing in two new residential buildings at the site — each less than seven stories high. Of the 165 apartments planned for the property, 16 will now be reserved for very low-income families (those making 30 to 50 percent of the area's median income), another 16 for low-income families (those making 50 to 80 percent of the area's median income) and eight for moderate-income families (those making 80 to 120 percent of the area's median income).

However: Councilman Brad Lander said the plan described above won't become reality unless some form of tax subsidy program for affordable housing construction is passed into law by the state government. (The former program expired this past January.)

AHI's initial plans for the Key Food site did not include a supermarket. The developer also initially pitched 32 low-income units and eight moderate-income units — and none for very low-income renters.

A second proposal, unveiled in February, offered locals a 7,500-square-foot supermarket; that one was swiftly rejected by the community.

The Stakeholder Group was formed specifically to negotiate with AHI, and is composed of elected officials and community organizations like the Fifth Avenue Committee, Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), the Boerum Hill Association and Inquilinos Unidos (Tenants United).

Michelle de la Uz, who leads the Fifth Avenue Committee, said Tuesday that the Stakeholders have met more than 25 times since February — including six times directly with Avery Hall.

De la Uz and other group members announced their triumphant deal with AHI at a community meeting at P.S. 133. The deal with requires a supermarket to remain on the property for 20 years, compared to the the initial 15 year period proposed by AHI earlier this year.

Among the deal's other key points:

• The new supermarket will accept WIC and SNAP benefits, while at least 50 percent of its food will be fresh (intended to be prepared at home) and 30 percent will be perishable (foods like milk and eggs)
• The supermarket will not be operated by a high-end company like Whole Foods, Eataly, or Citarella
• The supermarket's future operator will be chosen through a public bidding process, and the winner will meet with the Stakeholder Group at least twice
• Regarding the housing portion of the development, all of the residential buildings' amenities will be shared by all residents, and at least 65 percent of the floors will be mixed-income
• AHI will communicate with the Stakeholder Group on construction plans and execution
• The developer is open to turning Gregory Place, where it wants to build an entrance to an underground, 182-spot garage, into a two-lane street to limit the traffic passing by P.S. 133. It also agreed to new traffic-controlling signage on the street.

Lander said AHI currently estimates that construction will take three years from demolition to re-opening. However, no start date has been established.

Lander also said Key Food's current owner is not required to keep the supermarket open until the start of construction, but the hope is that he would.

Public Advocate Letitia James, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and State Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon all attended Tuesday's meeting to voice support for the negotiated plan.

"This is really about human-scale development," James said. He contrasted the local victory against "what we are seeing all over the city, [which] is the loss of community" to developers.

Stringer described the deal as a "tremendous victory," and called it an argument for instituting more community-based planning around New York City.

Montgomery, for her part, said more development decisions should be put in the hands of groups like the Fifth Avenue Committee. If they were, she said, "We would be much better off."

The negotiated plan will now be sent to Community Board 6 for a public hearing, according to Lander — after which it would have to be written into law by the city. AHI has also agreed to sign a deal directly with key stakeholders involved in the negotiation, he said.

However, the developer will need subsidies to make the plan work, politicians at the meeting said — a step that rests in the hands of state government.

Simon said she and Montgomery were well aware of this, and that they'd make the subsidies a priority when the statehouse returns to business in January. But as for a specific plan, the lawmaker said, "I don't know what that looks like yet."

If a subsidy plan isn't reached, Lander said AHI won't move forward with its purchase of the site. The property would then likely remain unchanged until the existing Urban Renewal District deal expires in six years, he said.

Pictured at top: The 5th Avenue Key Food. Image via Google Maps