The iconic Crest Hardware storefront in Williamsburg, pictured in July 2024, before its closure and the sale of the property for redevelopment.
Photo by Susan De Vries
The longtime home of Williamsburg’s iconic Crest Hardware store and nearby associated properties have sold for $22 million, and a new apartment building will take the former hardware store’s place.
Brokerage firm TerraCRG announced the sale in late November and the buyer, Green Street, was made public in city records this week. The company has developments in Brooklyn and South Africa, according to its website.
Green Street paid $15.5 million for Crest’s former store buildings at 558 Metropolitan Avenue and 554 Metropolitan Avenue, $3 million for Crest’s garage at 546 Metropolitan Avenue, and $3.5 million for a mixed-use red brick building with a driveway at 536 Metropolitan Avenue. Formerly owned by the Franquinha family, all the properties are connected in the rear by a narrow strip of land.
Green Street principal Joshua Greenberg told Crain’s the hardware store — presumably 558 and 554 Metropolitan — will be demolished and replaced by an 11-story, 75-unit rental building with no retail space. He said the project would likely kick off in the next year and be done in three years time.
A press release and listing from TerraCG said that the properties are all zoned R7A and C2-4 and can transfer air rights to each other, giving developers a range of options. The buildable square feet is 72,864, and the developers could use inclusionary housing to increase that to 97,152 square feet, the release states.
“Our team takes great pride in working with families who have successfully owned and operated multi-generational businesses at their properties. We are highly experienced in managing confidential marketing processes while respecting the sensitive nature of these transactions,” TerraCRG CEO Dan Marks said in the release.
Crest Hardware announced its closing in July after more than 60 years in business. While Joe Franquinha was the sole owner of the iconic Williamsburg store, established by his dad Manny Franquinha and uncle Joe Franquinha in 1962, he was only one of four owners of the property, all family members, and was outvoted on the property’s future, he told Brownstoner at the time.
The store was known for its highly knowledgeable and longtime staff as well as community events such as a yearly art show and block party. It catered to local artists and families with its assortment of homewares, hardware, paint, and garden supplies. It was also home to Franklin the pig and Finlay the parrot, who now live with Joe and his wife, Liza.
“Crest Hardware has been more than just a store; it has been a gathering place and a symbol of neighborhood resilience and connection,” Franquinha said at the time of the closing announcement.
In August, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people turned up to a closing party to say their goodbyes.
No demolition or new-building permits have as yet been filed for the site.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner
