Alex and Miles Pincus, the brothers behind the Grand Banks oyster bar, have quietly snapped up the century-old Montero Bar building at 73 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights for about $4.5 million. The mixed-use property includes the ground-floor tavern and the apartments above, and is now in the hands of the Pincus family’s Crew hospitality group. For locals, it strongly hints that one of the neighborhood’s last seafaring dives is not headed for a condo conversion.
According to Crain's New York Business, the building traded for roughly $4.5 million. The outlet reported on May 22, 2026, that the buyers were the Grand Banks operators, confirming that the same maritime-minded team is now steering Montero’s future.
New Owners Have Waterfront Pedigree
Alex and Miles Pincus co-founded Crew, a hospitality group known for turning historic vessels and waterfront structures into dining destinations. Coverage of their work on the Sherman Zwicker and other projects has documented their focus on maritime restaurants and careful restorations, as reported by Tasting Table.
Montero's Place In The Neighborhood
Montero dates back to 1939 and moved to its current corner at Atlantic Avenue and Hicks Street in 1948, eventually becoming a long-time sailors’ hangout and neighborhood fixture. Local reporting notes that Pepe Montero has run the bar for decades, and that the family chose a buyer they felt would protect the space, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.
Owners Promise To Preserve The Dive
Crew describes on its Montero page how Pepe personally selected the group as “the next generation of caretakers” and pledges to keep the bar’s character intact. The company highlights Montero’s cheap beer, pool table and karaoke nights, signaling that the plan is light-touch stewardship rather than a glossy reinvention.
For neighbors, the sale effectively ties the tavern’s physical and cultural footprint to operators who already have a track record with maritime history. Whether Crew quietly updates the back-of-house or leaves most things as they are, the deal cuts down the immediate risk that the building will be diverted from its long-standing role as a working waterfront dive.
