5th Avenue Key Foods Redevelopment Meeting Scheduled For November 1; Developer To Present New Plans
The Fifth Avenue Committee announced a community meeting to provide updates on the controversial development of the 120 5th Avenue Key Food property.
The public meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 1 at PS 133 – William Butler School (610 Baltic Street at 4th Avenue) and from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
The revised proposal will be presented by the 5th Avenue Key Food Stakeholder Group — made up of neighborhood organizations and political leaders — after months of negotiations with Avery Hall Investments (AHI), the property developer.
After a meeting in early February marked by both impassioned pleas and extreme exasperation by hundreds of community members in response to developer Avery Hall’s future plans for the existing 5th Avenue Key Food site, a platoon of local and city-wide politicians sent a letter to the Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and New York City Planning Commission to express they their “deep concern” with major portions of the developer’s plans.
The plans originally presented — consisting of two residential properties, commercial businesses, and the addition of a pedestrian walkway — did include a space for a supermarket. However, the proposed space allotted for the market was 7,500 square-feet. The current size of Key Food is 36,000 square-feet.
Based on an email sent by the Fifth Avenue Committee, it is unclear whether the process of feedback would send the AHI back to the table if more community outcry took place. The email reads: “After more than six months, the negotiations between the Key Food Stakeholder Group and Avery Hall Investments (AHI) have reached a conclusion.”
“Avery Hall Investments gladly engaged in a detailed review of the planned development with the Community Stakeholders’ Group, which represents a wide cross-section of the residents of the neighborhoods affected by the proposed project,” a spokesperson from AHI told the Stoop. “We believe that all parties acted in good faith to advance the interests of the community and that this process will result in a revised plan that meets the needs of area residents.”
While it’s unclear whether or not the neighborhood will be pleased with the outcome of this development, community input recently scored a major win after it was announced in early September that the Pavilion Theater at 188 Prospect Park West will be taken over by Nitehawk Cinema and remain a movie theater instead of the initial condo project proposal.
In that instance, neighbors, politicians, and activists expressed great concern over the the original plans. In August 2015, displeased members of the public packed the room at a hearing by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission [LPC] concerning further developments to the project.
“This is a victory for community activism and partnership,” wrote Council Member Brad Lander, at the time of the announcement. “When we heard about plans to eliminate the theater, we spoke up loud and clear. Together with neighbors, we pushed to save the theater, and make sure any renovation/development respected the historic character of the neighborhood.”
Will community input help save an affordable supermarket for the neighborhood?
Good news could also come if the construction seen at the former Gowanus Pathmark at the Hamilton Plaza Shopping Center (1-37 12th Street) does in fact turn into Stop & Shop. Earlier this month, we reported that an employee at Big J’s Wine & Liquor who requested we not use his name told the Stoop that he knows a supermarket is coming in.
For more information about the 5th Avenue Key Food site history, press coverage, and the stakeholder group’s position, you can view the Fifth Avenue Committee website.
The Meeting Rundown: Community Meeting to address redevelopment of 5th Avenue Key Food
When: Tuesday, November 1, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: PS 133 – William Butler School (610 Baltic Street at 4th Avenue)