Development

Brooklyn Roasting Company, Apartments Replace Williamsburg Old-Timer Klenosky Paint

Brooklyn Roasting Company has supplanted Klenosky Paint, and an apartment building is going in next door where the garage stood.

The site in October. Photo by Susan De Vries

by Cate Corcoran

11/13/2023 4 minute 0

Brooklyn Roasting Company has supplanted Klenosky Paint, and an apartment building is going in next door where the garage stood. In business at 543 Metropolitan Avenue since 1949, the fourth-generation mom and pop beloved for its knowledgeable staff suddenly shut down in the fall of 2021.

A for-sale sign subsequently popped up on the storefront, and in May 2022 the longtime owner behind Klenosky Paint sold the two adjacent lots for a total of $3.1 million, public records show. The new owner, developer Patoma Partners, develops, buys, and manages rental apartment buildings in Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Ridgewood — such as a Common co-living space fronting the BQE at 248-254 South 3rd Street.

williamsburg - construction fence around the empty site — The development site and neighboring storefront building last week. Photo by Cate Corcoran

storefront with brooklyn roasting co sign — A new outpost of Brooklyn Roasting Company has replaced Klenosky Paint in the storefront at 543 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. Photo by Cate Corcoran

A rendering posted on the green construction fence at 545 Metropolitan Avenue shows a modern six-story building cantilevered over the petite wood-frame house now home to Brooklyn Roasting Company and two apartments. While the design seems fairly restrained, it has some fun quirks. These include one upside-down arched window, whose curve echoes one in the cantilever and another in the corner of the ground-floor storefront’s large glass window. The tiny Tom Fruin water tower on the roof appears to be a freelance addition.

In addition to the high-ceilinged retail space, the mixed-use building will have five apartments, according to DOB filings. A visit last week revealed the garage has been demolished, and workers were busy excavating for the foundation.

The old tax photos show the now-demolished garage was a relative newcomer to the block, having replaced another old storefront building with a circa 1900 facade. Williamsburg is one of the older settled areas of Brooklyn, and while it is difficult to estimate the age of its much-altered wood frame buildings from appearance alone, an 1860s-style Italianate cornice bracket can be spied peeping out from under the paint store signage on the Klenosky Paint building.

black and white rendering — A rendering posted on the construction fence shows the new building will cantilever over its neighbor. Photo by Cate Corcoran

a view of construction equipment on the lot — Behind the green fence, workers were busy excavating for the foundation. Photo by Cate Corcoran

After shrinking during the pandemic, Brooklyn Roasting Company now has four cafes, including three in Brooklyn, plus operations and wholesale in the Navy Yard. This latest one, open about six months, is just a few feet from an L train stop and the busy intersection of Union on a stretch without similar cafes.