Apple Is Really Opening in Williamsburg — in Old Kings Pharmacy Building
Apple really is opening a store in Williamsburg, at 247 Bedford Avenue, according to the New York Post. That’s where the Bagel Store was located, across from where Duane Reade is now, between North 3rd and North 4th Street, close to Metropolitan Avenue. It is catty corner from the future location of Whole Foods at Bedford and North 4th Street.
The building contained at least three other retail spaces, all of which had the same address: 241 Bedford. Kings Pharmacy occupied the biggest one for the longest time. Corcoran and clothing maker Robert James recently occupied other storefronts between the pharmacy and the bagel store.
Apple will occupy only 20,000 square feet of the 70,000 square foot building. The building is being returned entirely to commercial and the lots regrouped, according to permits.
It will be Apple’s first Brooklyn store. Where it would locate has been the subject of rumors for years. RedSky Capital and Waterbridge Capital bought the building for $66,000,000 in 2012.
In late August, Gothamist ran a story saying Apple was planning to take over the whole building, based on info from employees of Whisk, at 231 Bedford Avenue a few doors down, at the end of the block on the corner of North 4th. Tenants of the apartments above Kings were being “pressured to leave” and were offered a buyout. “The space where Bagel Store/Kings Pharmacy existed is going to be the Apple store location,” one of the employees told Gothamist in an email. “They’ve already started on it, and the lease was signed about a month ago. We found that out from the owners of the block.” Gothamist later retracted the story when Ben Bernstein of RedSky Capital said, “Sorry, wish it were true. Apple is not opening in the old Kings Pharmacy.”
The Post quoted unnamed “brokerage community sources.” The renovation is supposed to wrap in April. Asking rent was about $250 per square foot last year, according to The Real Deal.
The design of the building — the architect of record appears to be Marin Architects — will look nothing like an Apple glassy cube. But not every Apple store has that look.
Apple Goes iHipster With New Williamsburg Store [NY Post] GMAP
Rendering via The Real Deal
Closing Bell: Apple Mulls BAM South and Another Bedford Avenue Site
Apple is “looking closely” at Two Trees’ BAM South site and a converted brick factory building on Bedford between North 3rd and North 4th for its first Brooklyn location, The Real Deal reported. Rumors have been flying about Apple’s first Brooklyn store since 2008, but so far none have come to pass, including a location on Bedford and North 7th. Neither Apple nor its brokers, Open Realty Advisors, commented on the story.
TRD quoted four anonymous sources who contradicted each other. Two said the tech giant is interested in the planned 381-unit rental at 286 Ashland Place known as BAM South (pictured), just a stone’s throw from the Barclay’s Center in Fort Greene. Another two “disputed that information,” said TRD, alleging the current frontrunner is 247 Bedford Avenue, owned by RedSky Capital and Waterbridge Capital.
The Two Trees development has the high-rise metal and glass aesthetic that Apple seems to favor, particularly in its 5th Avenue and Chelsea stores. However, the Soho store is in a converted loft building much like 247 Bedford.
Apple currently has five Manhattan stores: Soho, 5th Avenue, Chelsea, Upper West Side and Grand Central. And they have a sixth one in Staten Island. What do you think would be the ideal spot for them in Brooklyn?
Apple Eyes BAM South, Bedford Avenue for First Brooklyn Store: Sources [TRD]
Rendering by Ten Arquitectos
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