BROOKLYN, NY-L+M Development Partners has opened the largest full-service grocery store in South Williamsburg in a new mixed-income, mixed-use building at 11 Broadway. Urban Market of Williamsburg is a 16,000-square-foot store. Rob Morea of Great Jones Realty was the tenant representative in the deal.
Financing for Urban Market comes in part from the New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund, a $30 million fund capitalized by the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Empire State Development and administered by the Low Income Investment Fund. Established in 2010, the HFHC Fund provides capital grants and loans to expand the healthy food offerings in underserved neighborhoods throughout New York State.
“Our goal in opening Urban Market of Williamsburg was to create both an affordable one-stop shop for residents in the neighborhood, as well as a singular shopping experience that embraces fresh food, celebrates the joy of cooking and dining, and appeals to both the new and established residents of North and South Williamsburg,” says co-owner Colin Xie.
Adds Jason Chung, co-owner, “Community is key for us, and we want Urban Market to be a cornerstone of the neighborhood, a non-exclusive meeting place for the entire community.”
Completed this past April, 11 Broadway is a mixed-use development that contains 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 160 rental apartments. Financing for the structure includes a mix of public and private sources, including debt and equity from Goldman Sachs and L+M, NMTC allocations from the New York City Economic Development Corp., Citibank and United Fund Advisors, and a subordinate loan and tax-exempt bonds issued by the NYC Housing Development Corp.
The goal of L+M and its partners was to transform the property into a mixed-income building with space to house a grocery store for the local community–which was lacking a supermarket due to high land and development costs, according to the announcement of Urban Market's opening.
“This project is a model for successful, holistic community development, offering a combination of residential and commercial space that will truly contribute to the fabric of the neighborhood,” says Ron Moelis, CEO of L+M Development Partners.
“This project demonstrates the transformative impact of patient capital,” notes James Patchett, VP in Goldman Sachs' urban investment group.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
