Renderings, Plans Revealed for Apartment Tower on Crest Hardware Site

The new owners of Crest Hardware’s former buildings on Metropolitan Avenue are advancing plans to replace the familiar red structures with a residential tower. City records show developer Green Street has filed a new building permit application for an 11-story, 70-unit apartment building at 554 and 558 Metropolitan Avenue.

According to the permit, IMC Architecture designed the 115-foot-tall building, which will include a total of 5,422 square feet of space. The plans call for a 31.9-foot-deep rear yard and no on-site parking.

Renderings shared by Green Street principal Joshua Greenberg show a facade broken into three staggered vertical sections that help break up the building’s width. The outer sections are finished in white paneling, while the center section is clad in brown. The easternmost sections step back at the eighth floor. Large, symmetrical windows run across the facade. At the rear, the yard is shown landscaped with paving, grassy areas, and plantings.

In 2024, Green Street paid $15.5 million for Crest’s former store buildings at 554 and 558 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 of the properties are connected at the rear by a narrow strip of land.

Greenberg told Brownstoner that the long-term plan is to replace the existing structures at 536 and 546 Metropolitan Avenue with new residential buildings and connect all of the properties through the rear yard “so that they can share some of the amenities like the pickle ball court, dog run, and landscaped walking area.”

“It will be something really unique and special having all the properties connected at the back and the larger private, park-like outdoor area,” he said.

Work on the additional sites is not expected to begin for another two years and is planned as a second phase of development, following completion of the new 11-story building.

Green Street has applied for and received approval for a demolition permit for 554 and 558 Metropolitan Avenue, though it has not yet been issued. The developer has not applied for any permits for 536 or 546 Metropolitan Avenue. The building at 536 Metropolitan Avenue is a three-story mixed-use property that houses Quimby’s Bookstore on the ground floor and four apartments above.

Once completed, the new 11-story building will stand out among its mostly four-story neighbors, though some newer construction nearby rises to six stories, including a recent development across the street on the former site of Klenosky Paint.

The stretch of Metropolitan Avenue has long been home to small neighborhood businesses, but rising property values and increased demand for housing have threatened their longevity. The permit for 554 Metropolitan Avenue indicates the entire building will be residential, and it remains unclear whether any of the other Green Street–owned properties will include commercial space.

A neighborhood fixture since 1962, Crest Hardware stood out for its highly knowledgeable and longtime staff, community events such as a yearly art show and block party, and relationships with with local artists.

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