Could the Century Marketplace grocer be Aldi or Lidl instead?

It's less likely. Aldi and Lidl stores typically run 18,000 to 23,000 square feet, larger than the space signed here, and both market themselves as discount grocers rather than the specialty grocer language MCB used to describe this tenant.

22 Aug 2026 5 min read

Will It Be Trader Joe's?

A mystery grocer just signed on at Bay Ridge's Century Marketplace, alongside Burlington. Developers won't say who it is — but the details, and six years of neighborhood wishing, point in one direction. Here's what we know. -->

If you spend any time in Bay Ridge Talk, you already know the joke. A nail salon closes, someone comments "Trader Joe's?" A church rummage sale gets a new banner, someone comments "Trader Joe's?" At this point it doesn't matter what the vacant space is — the crowd response is the same three words. It's become the neighborhood's unofficial punchline.

This time, though, the joke might actually land.

For six years, Bay Ridge has walked past the same empty windows on 86th Street and asked the real version of that question: what's finally going in there?

This week, we got half an answer.

What was actually announced

On August 19, MCB Real Estate and Osiris Ventures — the developers behind the $130 million redevelopment of the old Century 21 site — announced two signed leases at Century Marketplace. Burlington is taking 44,070 square feet. And a national grocery chain has signed on for roughly 16,000 square feet, becoming, in the developers' words, the first national grocer to serve the immediate Southwest Brooklyn trade area.

Combined, the two leases total just over 60,000 square feet. That brings the 120,000-square-foot project to 65% pre-leased, with room left for two more junior anchors and 15,000 square feet of smaller shop space along the street.

Here's the catch: nobody's naming the grocer. MCB Principal Drew Gorman called it a "nationally recognized specialty grocery anchor" in the press release. That's it. That's the whole description.

So why is everyone saying Trader Joe's?

Because the shoe fits.

The size is right. A typical Trader Joe's runs somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet. Century Marketplace's grocery space checks in around 16,000. That's a tight match, and it rules out a full-size supermarket format.

"Specialty grocer" is the tell. Developers don't usually reach for that phrase to describe a conventional supermarket chain — it's the kind of language you'd use for a Trader Joe's, a Sprouts, or something in that lane, not a Key Food or a ShopRite.

Bay Ridge has been asking for years. There's a Change.org petition for a Trader Joe's on 86th Street dating back to 2020, the year Century 21 closed. Local Facebook groups have been trading rumors about it on and off ever since — including chatter that Trader Joe's once eyed a Bay Ridge site before those plans fell through.

None of that confirms anything. But when a specialty grocer of exactly the right footprint signs a lease in a neighborhood that's been publicly campaigning for Trader Joe's since before the pandemic ended, it's not a hard leap to make.

What about Aldi or Lidl?

Fair question — those two German discount grocers have been the other names floating around Bay Ridge conversations, and they're both actively expanding across the New York area right now. So why do we still think Trader Joe's is the better bet?

Two reasons, and they both come straight from the press release language.

The size doesn't quite match. Aldi and Lidl stores typically run 18,000 to 23,000 square feet — noticeably bigger than the roughly 16,000-square-foot space signed at Century Marketplace. Trader Joe's, at 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, is a tighter fit.

The word choice doesn't match either. MCB called this tenant a "specialty grocery anchor." Aldi and Lidl market themselves as discount grocers — that's the whole brand pitch, low prices and no frills. "Specialty" is a different category entirely, and it's the exact word people use for Trader Joe's.

Could the developers still be talking about a discount chain and just phrasing it generously? Sure, it's possible. But if you're reading the tea leaves — square footage plus vocabulary — they're both leaning the same direction, and it's not toward Aldi or Lidl.

One thing worth clearing up

There's a second grocery story happening on the same block, and it's easy to mix the two up.

The Century 21 property was actually sold off in two separate pieces. The 86th Street side — the big 14-lot assemblage — went to MCB and Osiris and became Century Marketplace. The 87th Street side, including the old parking lot, was bought separately by the Abed family and is expected to bring in a SuperFresh.

So: two different sites, two different developers, two different grocers. The SuperFresh on 87th Street is confirmed. The specialty grocer at Century Marketplace on 86th Street is the one still playing coy — and the one everyone's hoping is Trader Joe's.

The bigger picture

This isn't just a grocery story. It's a sign that 86th Street's most stubborn vacancy is finally moving.

The developers closed on $76.7 million in construction financing from Truist Bank to fund the build-out. Bay Ridge's average household income sits at $127,837, with a median home value around $1.12 million. Zoom out to the broader Southwest Brooklyn trade area and you're looking at 832,000 residents, where average household income has nearly doubled since 2010, from $57,412 to $108,138 today.

Foot traffic tells the same story. Within 1,000 feet of the site, visits topped 3.2 million over the past year — up almost 6% from the year before. Before Century 21 closed in 2018, this stretch of 86th Street was pulling in more than 4 million visitors annually. The corridor never stopped being valuable. It just needed someone willing to build.

What's next

No opening date has been announced, and the grocer's identity hasn't been confirmed by anyone — not MCB, not the tenant. Until a lease filing, a signage permit, or an official announcement surfaces, "Trader Joe's" remains the neighborhood's best guess, not a fact.

We'll keep watching the paperwork. If Bay Ridge is finally getting its Trader Joe's, you'll read it here first.

FAQ

What is Century Marketplace? Century Marketplace is a $130 million mixed-use retail redevelopment at 458 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn — the former home of Century 21 department store. It's being developed by MCB Real Estate and Osiris Ventures.

Who signed leases at Century Marketplace? Burlington has signed a 44,070-square-foot lease, and an unnamed national specialty grocery chain has signed a roughly 16,000-square-foot lease. Together the two leases total about 60,112 square feet.

Is the grocery store at Century Marketplace Trader Joe's? It hasn't been confirmed. Developers have only described it as a "nationally recognized specialty grocery anchor." The size of the space and the "specialty grocer" language have fueled speculation that it could be Trader Joe's, but no official confirmation has been made.

Is this the same as the SuperFresh coming to Bay Ridge? No. That's a separate project on the 87th Street side of the old Century 21 property, owned by a different developer (the Abed family). Century Marketplace, on 86th Street, is a different site with its own grocer still to be named.

When will Century Marketplace open? No official opening date has been announced. The project is currently about 65% pre-leased, with additional space still available for two junior anchors and smaller shops.