Rumor: Sale of Last Puccio Marble Building on Driggs in Williamsburg

The final building of the Puccio Marble & Onyx group at 661 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg sold Wednesday “for a ridiculous amount of money,” according to an anonymous tipster who declined to specify the sale price.

Any sale has yet to hit public records so could not immediately be verified.

As Williamsburg old timers will remember, the Puccio family owned and operated Puccio Marble & Onyx for 30-plus years across three properties on this corner. In fact, last time we passed by a few months ago, the outdoor stone yard across the street was still there. (As far as we know, it’s still in business.) The owner of 661 Driggs Avenue is listed as John Puccio.

Our source said that the buyer plans to remodel and lease the property, which consists of a two-story commercial building on a triangular-shaped lot. The low-slung building is using less than half of its allowable FAR and the site has 11,505 buildable square feet, according to PropertyShark.

To put any potential sale price in perspective, just a block away from 661 Driggs is 247 Bedford Avenue — the site of the future Williamsburg Apple store, which sold to Waterbridge Capital in 2012 for $66,000,000.

In 2013, the nearby properties at 658 and 625-629 Driggs Avenue were sold together for $9,250,000, according to Real Estate Weekly, at $315 per buildable square foot. In 2010, 641 Driggs Avenue sold for $7,000,000.

The vacant lot at 206 Kent Avenue — just a few blocks away — sold to Alliance Private Capital for $18,000,000 in January 2014 and will eventually become a mixed-use building with a Trader Joe’s.

The other Puccio building across the street sold in 2010 for $7,000,000, as we have detailed, and is now apartments and stores.

Puccio Marble Coverage [Brownstoner]
Aerial image by Google Maps; building photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark; sale data via Reonomy.