Veterinary Hospital Coming to Montague & Henry

By on April 9, 2023 9:33 pm in 11201, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, New businesses, News, Pets

According to Rebecca Baird-Remba in the Commercial Observer, a “[n]ational veterinary chain”, GoodVets, has committed to lease 2,899 square feet at 125 Montague Street (photo, by C. Scales for BHB) for a veterinary hospital expected to open about one year from now. We presume the 2.899 square feet are the former Ann Taylor LOFT space on the building’s street level. With Chama Mama preparing to open in the former LPQ space, this means the ground floor of 125 Montague will be occupied for the first time in about two years.

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  • Andrew Porter

    Here’s a better photo of the building, from the Municipal Archives tax photos of 1940:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/45badefc5e955400203b5e2af4310b4f56b93a243fb7bc268c540d9826865992.png

  • Cranberry Beret

    Neighborhood: Montague Street really needs a good butcher, fish monger or some other nice food/drink options
    Landlord: can I interest you in a private-equity-backed national vet chain?

    Oh well, still plenty of other vacant storefronts to fill…

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Good idea, open one up. I don’t think Landlords usually pick their lessees.

  • Cranberry Beret

    If you mean landlords don’t “curate” their lessees by proactively seeking specific types, not always. (Though the smart ones do, esp. in a space glut like exists/existed on Montague during the pandemic. As the commercial RE market in NYC shifts from being so landlord-favored, they’ll need to adapt to the new reality.)

    But I’m specifcally talking about landlords turning down prospective lessees, waiting around for years for the so-called dream tenant. i.e. the one believed to pay the most rent or offer the most security. This space has been vacant 2+ years and other, non-PE backed, local folks have been interested.

    And before you think I’m spouting some socialist pipe-dream, I’m talking about rational economics. The landlords who chased all the drugstores like CVS and Rite-Aid on the Clinton Street corners got burned for thinking “Never can have enough national drug chains” and are now sitting on empty space and refuse to consider non-chain tenants. So instead they collect $0. Good luck in this market. They should talk to the guy who owns the old Starbucks space on Montague who refuses to rent to anyone not like that chain…see how well it’s worked out for him.

  • Banet

    While I am sure there’s a need for increased veterinary care in the neighborhood, what with all the dogs that were acquired during the pandemic, this seems to be an absurdly bad use of an extremely high profile, high traffic, heavily windowed corner location on Montague Street. This vet could so easily go into the Rite Aid space on Joralemon for probably half the rent. Or the space emptied on Pierrepont by the Women’s Exchange.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Knowing several landlords, that is not how I see it. True a landlord might reject the potential lease of a business if they don’t feel confident in its viability or want in their building, eg, a restaurant, as they have a lot of potential liabilities, noise, fire, vermin, etc. However, the notion that landlords are only holding out for the “big, deep pocket corporate lessees is false. The simple reason these are the predominant occupiers of the larger commercial spaces is they are the only ones that can afford the build out cost and the rents.
    Many small startups just cant raise the capital to get Ito those spaces.

    Commercial property taxes are very high on Montague St. Building maintenance and heating costs are also very high. The rent must outweigh the write-off, before it makes sense to sign a lease for many of these landlords. And the big corporations are the only ones coming forward with offers.

  • RW

    I have to laugh every time a fish monger is mentioned on this blog. Can you imagine all the complaints we’d read here every week about the stink? Brooklyn Heights would never be able to handle a fish monger in the neighborhood.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Perhaps if we lived in a communist country. The local government could designate a more sensible location for the veterinary hospital and direct more needed businesses to the area. But we don’t.

  • Andrew Porter

    The All-In-One place at the corner of Henry and Pineapple Walk has a fish-on-ice selection, not that I ever buy fresh fish…

  • RW

    I agree, the Rite Aid or CVS on Clinton would have been perfect for the animal hospital. All those Ann Taylor windows will either be covered over or a sad view of a waiting room full of scared animals.

  • KDHicks

    On the bright side, at least it’s not an Ann Taylor Loft!

    Second the bar or healthy food spot. Would love to see a cocktail lounge, wine bar or brewery / craft beer bar on Montague one of these days…

  • Banet

    Has anyone ever bought those fish? A bodega just seems like the last place on earth I would buy fish.

  • Banet

    Oh god, it never occurred to me that they’ll likely cover all the windows – making that an utterly desolate corner. :-/

  • AEB

    The assumption that a fish store would “automatically” stink is unfounded–especially one located in a tony nabe like BH. The place would have to feature freshest merchandise if seeking a steady local clientele.

  • RW

    Yes its an assumption, but not unfounded. I lived near fish markets for several years. Even the freshest seafood doesn’t stay fresh. But my comment really has more to do with our tony nabe. You must admit, some of our neighbors love to complain about even the slightest offenses. So I do chuckle whenever someone brings up the need for a local fish monger. Because from my experience of living both there and here, I can only imagine how many complaints we’d see about “the stink”.

  • Cranberry Beret

    Every other upscale nabe in the city manages to have options for fresh fish. So you have to think the problem with Brooklyn Heights is the catch-22 problem on Montague with high rents/high taxes (and IMO some particularly overly risk-averse, out-of-touch landlords). And not with the potential “stink”

  • Andrew Porter

    It’s not a bodega. Ever shop there? It’s massive, many rows of shelves, lots of fresh fruit, veg, breads, dairy products.

  • Andrew Porter
  • AnonyMom

    The drug stores actually sited rampant shoplifting as one of the reasons they closed those locations. As for the wacko who owns the old Starbucks, until there are laws that limit the number of years a landlord can take a loss and/or keep their space vacant there isn’t much can do. The BID has tried to readon with him but to no avail.

  • Banet

    I’ve been dozens (hundreds?) of times. Since they expanded you’re right – it’s more than a bodega. But I wouldn’t quite call it a supermarket. It’s just Peas & Pickles to me. :-)

  • Cranberry Beret

    The shoplifting theory has been thoroughly debunked. The chain drugstores simply opened too many locations in the pre-pandemic years. Used shoplifting as an excuse to trim their ranks. CVS had 2 stores within 1000 ft of each other in Brooklyn Heights!

    “Walgreens Executive Says Shoplifting Threat Was Overstated –
    In a call with investors on Thursday, the chief financial officer of Walgreens, James Kehoe, said ‘maybe we cried too much last year’ over theft.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/business/walgreens-shoplifting.html

  • AEB

    It’s very depressing, as well as infuriating, to (try to) shop in a chain drugstore where the majority of merchandise is locked away behind plastic guards. Need a can of deodorant? You must get the attention of a salesperson to access the deodorant-in-bondage. She or he rightfully hates this process–as do the customers.