The Brooklyn Eagle reported recently that 172-174 Montague Street, home to the Hallmark store and Eamonn’s restaurant, is for sale and being marketed as a “potential development site”. The real estate broker handling the deal Maraget O’Keeffe of GVA Williams, tells the paper that the building is being sold due to “the owner’s move to Arizona.”
Up for grabs – development potential of 50,000 square feet for “commercial, hospitality and residential uses.” The air rights to the building also come with the sale. The structure does not fall within the Brooklyn Heights Landmark District and is not subject to its 50 foot height limit, the Eagle adds. And despite denials by Eamonn’s that they were in danger of being kicked out, O’Keefe tells the Eagle that the leases at 172-174 Montague are “short term and cancelable.”
The Curwin family who according to property records co-own the premises under the auspices of Robar LLC, opened the Hallmark in 1991. In 2003, one of the its owners, Barry Curwin, killed himself with a handgun inside the store.
