Grocer Met Fresh Opening 14K-SF Ridgewood, Queens Store
By Mark Hallum September 21, 2023 2:48 pm
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A grocery chain with locations around New York City plans to open its fourth outpost in Ridgewood, Queens, Commercial Observer has learned.
Met Fresh signed a 20-year lease for 14,000 square feet at 67-09 Fresh Pond Road, a stand-alone property owned by an entity known as YYY Realty, which shares an address with Sang Kung Realty at 110 Bowery in Manhattan, according to property records and brokers on the deal.
Asking rent was $65 per square foot, according to a broker for the tenant.
“Finding grocery space right now is not easy due to the fact that new developments have dropped off the charts,” Verada Retail’s Nathaniel Mallon, who repped the tenant alongside Brendan Thrapp and Julia Zoraian, told CO.
Marc Sitt and Dorel Melloul of Kassin Sabbagh Realty represented the landlord in the deal.
“The high visibility on Fresh Pond Road and use of the parking lot makes it a natural fit for a market of their caliber in this exciting neighborhood,” Melloul said in a statement.
The supermarket is owned and operated by Danny Hamdan, under Associated Supermarket Group’s Met Fresh banner, and opened its first store in neighboring Bushwick, Brooklyn, in 2018. It has since expanded to outposts in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey and is known for its walk-in “beer cave.”
Met Fresh’s Ridgewood location — next to the Fresh Pond Road stop near the terminus of the M train, and a block away from a competitor Food Universe Marketplace — is set to open in the first quarter of 2024.
YYY Realty purchased the Fresh Pond Road property in March from First Class Management for $5.7 million after acquiring it from CapitalOne Bank in 2022, according to property records.
Mark Hallum@can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
