Lidl picks Brooklyn neighborhood Crown Heights for next New York location

Lidl US is continuing its New York state of mind. The hard discount grocer is headed to Brooklyn for its latest brick-and-mortar expansion in the Big Apple.

Commercial mortgage broker Eastern Union on Monday announced it has secured a $62.25 million construction loan for a 105,000-square-foot, mixed-use property in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights that will be home to a new, 33,000-square-foot Lidl. A construction timeline and store opening details were not disclosed. 

The development is located at 1730 Bedford Ave., at the intersection of Empire Boulevard and Bedford Ave. Located two blocks from Brooklyn's popular Prospect Park, the new Lidl will sit at one of the borough’s prime locations, the mortgage broker said.

The Arlington, Virginia-based hard discounter operates more than 170 stores on the East Coast, with 27 in New York. 

“We are thrilled to be bringing Lidl’s high-quality groceries, low prices and convenient shopping experience to the Crown Heights community,” said Or Raitses, senior director of real estate for Lidl’s Northern Region, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our expansion in New York City and opening even more stores in the future, bringing our unique value proposition to additional areas of the city where New Yorkers for far too long have had to put up with high grocery prices.”

The multi-use complex will also include 12,000 square feet of additional retail space, 57 residential units totaling 39,000 square feet, 12,000 square feet of office space, and a 9,000-square-foot community facility.      

“Working with Eastern Union has allowed us to focus on our active construction project while simultaneously sourcing and building this loan,” said Jack Gold, co-founder and chief operating officer of Seventh Street Development Group. “We’re confident that Lidl will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and we're now engaged in preliminary discussions with other national retailers about leasing opportunities at this property.”

In May, Lidl and MAG Partners announced a lease for an approximately 23,000-square-foot grocery store at 335 Eighth Ave,, a mixed-income apartment building being developed within the Penn South campus, an affordable housing cooperative in the Chelsea community of Manhattan.

Lidl also operates supermarkets across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.