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Key Food to Close by May to Make Way for 9-Story Washington Ave. Building

 The Key Food at 801 Washington Ave. will be demolished soon, permits say.
The Key Food at 801 Washington Ave. will be demolished soon, permits say.
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DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

CROWN HEIGHTS — The Key Food on Washington Avenue and Lincoln Place will close by the end of the month to make way for a nine-story residential building, according to city permits and staff.

The Key Food will reopen in the Crown Heights building’s ground floor when the project is complete, the market's owners told DNAinfo New York in the fall.

The city on March 31 granted permission to Happy Living Development to demolish the one-story building. Staff at the Key Food said Tuesday the grocery will close by May 1.

The new building at the 7,400-square-foot site will be nine stories tall with a total of 37 units, according to building plans filed in November.

It’s unclear when exactly construction will begin. Sadi Othman, one of several brothers and cousins who run the Key Food, said on Tuesday he couldn’t discuss details of the project and that the precise timeline for construction is not set. Representatives of Happy Living could not be reached for comment.

The building at 801 Washington Ave. also includes the popular Caribbean restaurant The Islands and Good Nature Pharmacy, open on Washington Avenue since 1936. Both businesses have plans to move to new locations nearby, they said.

News of the demolition permit was first reported by the Brooklynian website.