Developer For 5th Avenue Key Food Site Says ‘Seriously Considering’ Grocery Store

Last November, the community learned that Avery Hall Investments would be purchasing the 33-year-old Key Food — parking lot included — to develop a residential and smaller commercial space at the current 120 5th Avenue parcel.

Avery Hall Investments spokesperson Ethan Geto has told us that the company is “very seriously considering incorporating a grocery store into the planned development.”

An anonymous resource told The Brooklyn Paper that it’s “99.9 percent certain to have a grocery store.”

Geto also tells us that Community Board 6 will hold a public hearing on the project, “probably in February (but no sooner).” At that time, the developer plans to make a full presentation to CB6, the public, and the press.

Since the first announcement, there has been concern throughout the community about where affordable groceries will be available in a neighborhood filled with upscale grocery stores, and how far will one have to walk to get them.

In mid-December, an advocacy group called Save The Fifth Avenue Key Food (STFAKF) was formed with the goal to “keep affordable food for the community in the north Slope,” as there have been no guarantees that a grocery store would be included within the development — or whether a grocery store would provide affordable groceries comparable to the current Key Food.

Avery Hall spokesperson Maya Kremen tells us that “The Avery Hall team is committed to creating a project that is a benefit to the community as a whole and takes seriously the interest expressed by community members in including a grocery store as part of the project. Avery Hall looks forward to consulting with the community about its concerns.”

Are you planning to attend the Community Board 6 meeting when the time and date is announced? What are the questions that you would ask the developer in a public forum?