Trader Joe's Is Coming to Bay Ridge's Old Century 21. Here's What's Actually Happening on That Block

"I'll see you in aisle four!" That is how Council Member Kayla Santosuosso ended the video she posted Sunday, October 11, confirming that Trader Joe's will be the grocery store at Century Marketplace, the redevelopment of the former Century 21 on 86th Street, as Brooklyn Paper reported. The same report says no opening date has been announced.

The Trader Joe's news covers only half the old department store. Century 21's Bay Ridge holdings were sold to two different owners, and they are now two separate projects on the block between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. Each one plans its own grocery store, and each runs on its own schedule. If you walk past the construction fence on 86th Street and wonder which store goes where, this is the map.

Two Owners Now Hold What Century 21 Left Behind

Century 21 opened in Bay Ridge in 1961, founded there by the Gindi family, and closed during the retailer's 2020 bankruptcy. The family's own plan for a large retail destination fell apart. By September 2024, Brooklyn Paper reported the family was looking to sell and considering housing instead.

The property was then sold in two parts. In December 2025, Brooklyn Paper reported that the former Century 21 holdings had been sold separately, with one project on the 86th Street side and another on the 87th Street side.

Brooklyn Paper's August coverage is direct about it: the SuperFresh development "is unrelated to Century Marketplace." The two projects share a block, a history and a former tenant. They do not share an owner or a timeline.

On 86th Street, Leases Are Signed but No Date Is Set

Century Marketplace is the half with the most public progress. MCB Real Estate and Osiris Ventures bought the 14-lot assemblage for $47.5 million in 2025. MCB's project page describes a redeveloped two-story building with an interior atrium and about 200 feet of frontage on 86th Street.

The project's reported size has changed as it moved along. MCB's August 2025 release described roughly 95,000 square feet and a $100 million project. MCB's current project page lists 110,000 square feet of retail. In August 2026, Brooklyn Paper called it a 120,000-square-foot, $130 million development. None of these sources explains the gap, so treat any single figure as a snapshot.

The leasing numbers are more consistent. As of August 20, 2026, Burlington and the grocer had signed leases totaling 60,112 square feet, and the development was 65% pre-leased. The grocer was unnamed at the time. Developers described it as the first national grocer to serve the immediate Southwest Brooklyn trade area. Sunday's announcement named it. The plan still has room for two junior anchors and 15,000 square feet of smaller street-level shops, so more tenant announcements are likely.

Physical work started last fall. The Brooklyn Reporter documented demolition and heavy construction on December 29, 2025. In August 2026, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that demolition had begun in November 2025 and that the developers had closed on $76.7 million in construction financing.

The opening date is still open. In August 2025, Brooklyn Paper reported the developers' schedule with first stores projected to open in 2027. That is the most specific target anyone has published, and it is now more than a year old. In September 2026, News 12 Brooklyn reported that there was no exact timeline for opening. As of August 2026, Brooklyn Paper found no certificates of occupancy in the NYC Department of Buildings database.

The 88th Street Half Has Already Missed Its First Target

The other half of the old store has been quieter, and its timeline has already slipped once.

The Abed family bought 423 88th Street from ASG Equities for $28 million in October 2025, Commercial Observer reported. The property runs between 87th and 88th Streets and includes a two-story building and a parking garage, six stories in all. This is the former Century 21 parking lot and the building that once held the store's home-goods department.

In the Brooklyn Reporter's December 2025 story, the family said the first floor would become a SuperFresh Superstore expected to open "this spring." That spring has passed. In its August 20, 2026 coverage, Brooklyn Paper still described the property as "expected to become a SuperFresh supermarket," with no opening date. No later report confirms that it has opened or gives a new target.

The result is two grocery projects on the same block, both announced and both undated. This week's Trader Joe's news belongs to the project whose only published target is a year, 2027, while SuperFresh named a season and has already missed it.

How the Block Got Here

Pulled together, the public record reads as a sequence:

1. 1961. The Gindi family opens Century 21 in Bay Ridge.
2. 2020. The store closes during the retailer's bankruptcy.
3. September 2024. The Gindi family's retail plan is reported as scrapped.
4. August 2025. MCB and Osiris announce the $47.5 million purchase and their redevelopment plan.
5. October 2025. The Abed family buys 423 88th Street for $28 million.
6. November 2025. Demolition begins on the 86th Street side.
7. December 2025. A SuperFresh opening is reported as expected "this spring."
8. August 2026. Burlington and an unnamed grocer sign at Century Marketplace, and construction financing of $76.7 million is reported.
9. October 11, 2026. The grocer is confirmed as Trader Joe's.

A closing date for Century 21 is the one point where the coverage disagrees. One line in Brooklyn Paper's August story says 2018. Every other report, including Brooklyn Paper's own October story, says 2020.

A Grocery Store Already Opened Up Fourth Avenue This Summer

While the 86th Street fence went up, Bay Ridge got a new supermarket somewhere else. Foodtown opened at 6900 Fourth Avenue in a former Rite Aid, with a ribbon-cutting on June 26, 2026, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

That puts Bay Ridge's grocery changes into three categories. One store is open, at 69th and Fourth. Two are planned near 86th and Fourth, and neither has a date. For the next stretch of errands, Foodtown is the only change you can actually shop at.

Fifth Avenue Is One Block Away

The case for Century Marketplace has always involved the streets around it. Santosuosso said in her statement that Trader Joe's could bring more shoppers to the area and help independent shops and restaurants on Third and Fifth Avenues as well as 86th Street. The site is half a block from the 86th Street R station.

The developers' foot-traffic figures show what the block has lost. As reported by Brooklyn Paper in August 2026, about 3.2 million visitors came within 1,000 feet of the site over the past year, up nearly 6% from the year before. When Century 21 was open, the store alone drew more than 4 million visitors a year, according to MCB. The whole surrounding area now draws fewer visits than the single store once did.

In the meantime, the Fifth Avenue merchants a block north are running their fall calendar. The Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue BID's Coffee Crawl runs October 17 from 2 to 5 p.m., covering 67th to 85th Streets. The BID's Halloween Fest is October 24, listed from 2 to 7 p.m. on 72nd to 85th Streets. One family guide lists a 4 p.m. start, so check the time with organizers. Both events stop at 85th Street, one block short of the construction site. The BID also lists Small Business Saturday for November 28.

Until either grocery opens, the walk up Fifth from 86th Street runs past those same storefronts, with the fenced block at the south end.

If you own near 86th Street and want to know how two new anchor stores, and the time before they open, could figure into what your home is worth, Pen Realty can walk you through it with a local read on the corridor. Request Your Signature Market Valuation, and we'll keep you posted as dates firm up for both halves of the block.