CLINTON HILL — Condos might be in store for a popular neighborhood grocery.
Developers are looking to buy the one-story Key Food on Lafayette Avenue and demolish it to make room for condos, representatives of the group said.
Although the developers said they might reserve space for the store in the new building, the move has made some in the neighborhood anxious because it leaves few options for food shopping.
Slate Property Group is in the process of buying the building at 325 Lafayette Ave., at Grand Avenue, and plans to file an application to demolish the structure to build rental units, according to Slate Principal David Schwartz.
The proposed building would be eight stories high with 114 residential units — 20 percent affordable.
It would be designed by Aufgang Architects, which also designed the nearby building at the former location of an Associated Supermarket at 490 Myrtle Ave.
The spokeswoman for the owners of the Key Food said the building was in the process of being sold but could not give any more information.
Schwartz said that he would like to retain the grocery store in the bottom floor of the building if possible — but the entire project is still in the planning stages.
The lack of grocery stores in the area has some residents nervous.
Local Joe Gonzalez said that if Key Food closes there would only be one large-scale supermarket — C-Town Supermarket on Taaffe Place and DeKalb Avenue— left in the area.
There are also smaller Key Foods on Fulton Street and St. James Place and Lafayette and Waverly avenues.
"I don't think here would be enough price competition nor supply for everyone in the neighborhood if we have to rely on one store," he said.
