Greenpoint

Rising Property Values Lead Salvation Army to Close Third Brooklyn Store

Salvation Army’s Greenpoint store has bitten the dust. When Brownstoner stopped by the Salvation Army store at 981 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint last week, it was permanently closed. The building is for sale, a sign over the awning says. The closure is part of a wave of store shutterings for the charity, all connected to rising property…

by Cate Corcoran

10/16/2015 1

Salvation Army’s Greenpoint store has bitten the dust. When Brownstoner stopped by the Salvation Army store at 981 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint last week, it was permanently closed.

The building is for sale, a sign over the awning says.

The closure is part of a wave of store shutterings for the charity, all connected to rising property values in Brooklyn. Although the Army owns its stores and is not being forced out by rising rents, rising property values offer an opportunity to cash in that’s hard to resist.

The Army is hardly alone, as churches, restaurants, bookstores, theaters, senior residences and other longtime businesses — even the Brooklyn Public Library — sell to developers.

The Clinton Hill Salvation Army store at 22 Quincy has elaborate brickwork on its top stories. Photo by Cate Corcoran

Its store in the beautiful and historic Frederick Loeser & Co. warehouse at 22 Quincy Street in Clinton Hill, designed by noted 19th-century architect Francis Kimball, is reportedly in contract for about $30,000,000, although, for now, still open.

The charity closed its store at 176 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg in 2012, then demolished the two-story building. It promised it would build another two-story building and reopen as a Salvation Army on the same spot.

The corner is arguably the most prime retail spot in Brooklyn. The charity sold the site to Thor Equities for $36,100,000 earlier this year.

There has been little change at 176 Bedford Avenue since this photo was taken last year. The store closed in 2012. Photo by Cate Corcoran

Despite rising property values in the borough, The Salvation Army is not leaving Brooklyn altogether. Its store at 436 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill is still there and it opened a store in Bed Stuy at 1239 Fulton Street earlier this year. It also has stores at 3718 Nostrand Avenue in Sheepshead Bay and at 6822 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge.

The Greenpoint store had an unusual boutique format with higher-than-usual prices. Then the store had a flood and a fire in the store earlier this year. Rather than pay for repairs, Salvation Army decided to sell the property, now worth a sizable sum, the charity told Crain’s in September.