Lafayette Avenue Key Food Will Eventually Return; Residents Push For Responsible Construction

Good news: there WILL be a supermarket after all on the ground floor of the planned eight-story mixed-income housing tower at 325 Lafayette Avenue, once it reopens in a few years. And it will have the same manager, remaining a Key Food.

As discussed by developer Slate Property Group during a town hall meeting earlier this month, an agreement was reached with the existing supermarket operator, although it is too early to tell whether the prices will remain comparable to recent prices.

The rendering of the building can be seen above, in an image first published by New York YIMBY.

The site will have 58-60 parking spaces in the basement level, for residents of the building, which will have 117 apartments — 20 percent of them marked “affordable” — and all of them featuring high-efficiency boilers, windows, walls, and other materials, in order to deal with the warming temperatures in the city.

The Key Food closed July 10/11 to make way for construction, which is slated to take around three years.

Regarding construction, Slate principal David Schwartz also noted that they plan to hold a contractor fair to emphasize local hiring (date TBD) and, in answer to Willoughby Walk resident Joan O’Bryan’s question about air quality, will have a company monitor air quality on-site and create an air quality monthly plan.

Untended trash is also a concern, said Marilyn Mosley of 309 Lafayette Avenue. “I already see them dumping on-site. We need you to make sure it doesn’t become a dumping ground.”

Another request: “investment in the community in exchange [for the land], like with new computers at the library or schools,” said one town hall attendee, whose idea was later echoed by Councilmember Laurie Cumbo.

As Assemblymember Walter Mosley summed up: “our concerns are regaridng your ability and sensitivity to the concerns of the community and people of color, women, and seniors. We want to make sure we continue to have a sense of belonging and pride in our community, that has produced people like me.”