Iconic Junior’s Leaving Original Premises to Make Way for High-Rise Condo
Cashing-in on the sweet real estate market now engulfing Brooklyn, the Rosen family, owners of Junior’s, finally agreed to sell their two-story restaurant to a developer who plans to build a tower of unknown height.
Junior’s, which first opened for business in 1950, specializes, and is famous for, it’s luscious Brooklyn cheesecake. After turning down offers to buy for years, the Rosen family decided the offer was simply too irresistible to continue to refuse.
“The development market in the city is at a fevered pitch right now” said Bob Knakal, chair of Massey Knakal, the brokerage firm marketing the property. “When you have a market like that, it makes people think.”
The Rosens are hoping that when the condo rises they will be able to re-establish a presence on the ground floor of the building, although they cannot make any promises.
“The only thing for certain in life is death and taxes, right?” Knakal said. “It’s our objective to move back in.”
In addition to the 17,000 square-foot flagship location at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue, Junior’s also has locations in Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, and at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The establishment, which turned their cheesecake into a brand, is planning on renting space near their present location until the 20-story condo is built.
Although Knakal would not reveal the exact value of the sale, he did say that the property is most likely worth three times what it was worth ten years ago. The building could even climb to over 20 stories with air rights, which will make it one of Brooklyn’s tallest.
“All around” Knakal said, “it’s a world-class asset from a development viewpoint.”
Here’s to cheesecake!
