Beloved Brooklyn Dive Bar Sells For $4.5 Million

BROOKLYN, NY— A more than century-old Brooklyn Heights building housing the longtime waterfront bar Montero Bar & Grill at 73 Atlantic Ave has sold for $4.5 million, according to a deed filed in city records.

Brothers Miles and Alexander Pincus, founders of hospitality group Crew, purchased the four-story property and took over operations of the bar as part of the deal.

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The building sits at the corner of Hicks Street near the entrance to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and several blocks from the waterfront.

First opened in 1939, Montero’s became known as a neighborhood bar for sailors and longshoremen working along the Brooklyn docks before evolving into a karaoke destination.

The Pincus brothers signed a $4.7 million loan with First Horizon Bank tied to the acquisition, records show.

The bar had long been owned by Pepe Montero, who inherited the business and the apartments above it from his parents, Joseph and Pilar Montero.

The family explored a potential sale with neighboring property owners in 2015, but the larger transaction never materialized.

News of the sale surfaced earlier this year after Joseph Montero signed the contract, according to property records and previous reports.

The Pincus brothers run several maritime-themed hospitality ventures through Crew, including Grand Banks, an oyster bar aboard a historic sailboat docked at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park, and Island Oyster. They also operate The Yacht Club at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea.

The brothers told New York Groove earlier this year they plan to preserve Montero’s character while making limited upgrades, including reopening the kitchen.

“The Pincus’ will run Montero’s much as it has been since 1939: with its original boards and fixtures, warm low lighting, interiors adorned with patrons’ souvenirs of life at sea, and cloudy glass windows, all bathed in the glow of its iconic vintage neon sign,” a Crew representative told the outlet.