Starbucks Is Coming To Bed-Stuy

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Starbucks is preparing to open its first coffee shop in Bed-Stuy, on the ground floor of the neighborhood's iconic old Fat Albert building, according to a local real-estate broker involved in drawing up the lease.

"We signed with Starbucks yesterday," the broker for Kassin Sabbagh Realty, who wished to remain anonymous, said by phone Tuesday.

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Starbucks will be renting a 2,235-square-foot storefront at 775 Broadway, located across the street from the Woodhull Hospital complex on the corner of Broadway and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, the broker said.

The building sits directly beneath the elevated J train tracks that divide Bed-Stuy and Bushwick:

A Starbucks spokeswoman said she would get back to us soon with more information about the Seattle-based coffee chain's plans for Bed-Stuy.

Meanwhile, an anonymous "development representative" for Starbucks told the Commercial Observer — the outlet that broke the news Tuesday — that the company has signed on for 10 years at the Fat Albert building.

“This is a strong market in Brooklyn,” the Starbucks rep reportedly said. “It is a high-density area within the retail corridor for the Bed-Stuy market, adjacent to a regional hospital and near the subway, all which help drive traffic for our stores. We are also expanding our presence in Brooklyn and this is a market not currently served by our brand.”

In promo materials posted online, Kassin Sabbagh Realty says it's now looking for a retail tenant to "join Starbucks" in the building's central, 10,675-square-foot cavity — apparently the same space currently occupied by the Fat Albert Warehouse.

Patch was unable to reach Albert Srour, who opened the local clothing store circa 1986, to confirm he planned to close up shop. (A woman who answered the phone at his warehouse Tuesday night said he wouldn't be available to comment until at least July.)

But according to the Commercial Observer, Srour is indeed preparing to retire.

In an interesting twist, Srour's son Jack, president of the Brooklyn co-working space BKLYN Commons, began renting the Bed-Stuy building's upper floors for his business last year — along with a space in another of his dad's Fat Albert buildings, down in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.

Of 25,000 or so Starbucks locations worldwide, around 315 are sprinkled throughout New York City, according to the Center for an Urban Future, a local think tank that tracks chain sprawl in NYC.

And of those, 34 are located in Brooklyn — including two in Williamsburg, the neighborhood directly to the north of Bed-Stuy, and one in next-door Clinton Hill.

Until now, though, Starbucks has stuck to Brooklyn's more thoroughly gentrified western parts. Its Broadway storefront will be the first Brooklyn outpost east of Bedford Avenue.

The new Bed-Stuy coffee shop will reportedly join Starbucks' growing fleet of “Community Stores" — meaning 5 to 15 cents of every transaction will be donated to "a nonprofit that offers services aimed to meet the needs of that individual community."

"We believe in the power of the coffee house to bring people together," the company's website says. "These stores prove that and serve as the hub of area community service and training programs — essential programs that inspire opportunities for youth, positive learning environments, job skills and leadership development."

This story has been updated to include additional details. Renderings courtesy of Kassin Sabbagh Realty