The Williamsburg condo complex The Edge will house a supermarket — a potential game-changer for waterfront dwellers accustomed to schlepping their groceries back to the cluster of new developments along Kent Avenue.
The food-seller will open on the groundfloor of the complex’s south tower on the corner of N. Fifth Street, where workers recently put up a sign that reads, “Gourmet Supermarket Coming Soon! Organic & Natural Products.”
A spokeswoman for the condo complex — a 565-unit luxury development that’s home to some of the neighborhood’s most expensive properties — confirmed that a market will open in the coming weeks, but would not reveal its operator.
Public officials welcomed the news.
“A supermarket is an essential component of a community,” said Williamsburg Democratic district leader Lincoln Restler. “This is a much needed addition to the Northside and I hope to work with the supermarket operator to ensure this is a high quality, reasonably priced establishment that hires neighborhood residents.”
The grocery will be the fifth supermarket to open in Williamsburg’s rapidly developing Northside, which includes Khim’s Millennium Market on Driggs Avenue, Sunac Natural Foods on N. Seventh Street, Williamsburg Food Market on N. Third Street, and Tops on the Waterfront on N. Sixth Street — a 20-year-old business only two blocks away from The Edge.
Tops’s manager Yvonne Wong says she won’t fret the new competition, but hoped it wouldn’t be a chain.
“People like to browse in a new store, but I find our customers do come back to us because we offer a variety of gourmet and conventional foods,” said Wong. “This is a neighborhood that has a lot of independent restaurants and boutiques. Chains are not the flavor of the neighborhood.”
Community Board 1 member Ward Dennis said the community could use another grocery store because it is “still woefully under served” for food shopping — and he expects it will be popular with Williamsburgers living along the waterfront.
“I think any good supermarket will do well, though this is mainly an amenity for people who can walk there,” said Dennis, who spotted the sign and posted it on his blog, Brooklyn 11211.
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
