Hana organic grocery will open soon on Wyckoff Avenue near Starr Street. The building has been plagued by regulatory delays, including fire dept. concern about its iron gates.
Photo by Devvon Simpson for BushwickBK

The neighborhood’s most anticipated commercial opening, a long-delayed grocery store and separate wine shop on Wyckoff Avenue, is now shooting for a pre-Thanksgiving opening. But don’t hold them to it.

James Lee, owner of Hana Food, is opening a second location of his Williamsburg organic food store in Bushwick. He told BushwickBK that he hoped to open sometime this week — although next week, (Nov. 21) is more likely. Lee had originally hoped to open the store at the end of last year.

After a summer plagued with permit troubles, there appear to be few roadblocks in the way of the store’s grand opening. At one point in August, the grocery store was fully stocked with food — which presumably had to be thrown out — in anticipation of a quick opening.

A Department of Buildings official said that all recent applications for 24-28 Wyckoff Avenue have been approved but that the owner needed final systems inspections to legally convert the former manufacturing building into a retail space.

"They applied for new certificate in June," said Ryan Fitzgibbon, a buildings spokeswoman. "They still have a lot of requirements that need to be met and they need final signoffs on their plumbing and electrical work. A lot of it’s on them, not on us."

But Hana’s neighbor, a bar and music venue that hopes to open at 22 Wyckoff Avenue, may still have to slog through more paperwork.

The city denied an application to renovate the space due to a lack of information on whether the business complies with zoning and building codes.

"They need to take plans back and revise them, provide necessary information, and resubmit the plans," said Fitzgibbon.

The venue’s owner, Tari Sunkin, did not return emails requesting comment and calls made to the property’s owner, developer Jamie Wiseman (who has also developed a slew of new apartment buildings around North Brooklyn) were not returned.

Locals’ interest in the grocery store has bordered on the obsessive.

According to Michael Visser, who works at the neighboring Wyckoff-Starr coffee shop, patrons come in and ask 10 times a day when Hana is going to open.

Wyckoff-Starr manager Paul Rome said that he watched several FDNY officials inspect the site many times a week during the summer, though now it’s about every other week.

The property’s 12-foot, perforated, rust-patinaed iron gates exhibit an aesthetic more in line with a demilitarized zone than a commercial strip.

Rome thinks those gates may be part of the fire department’s problem.

"They stare dumbfounded, pointing to the gate, saying ‘That gate is going to be hard to take down,’" said Rome. "Why did they build the gate before the FDNY approved it?"