CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The existing Key Food grocery store at 801 Washington Ave. will be demolished early next year to make room for an eight-story residential building with a new Key Food inside, according to the store's owners.

The news, first reported by tipsters on a Brooklynian message board, was confirmed Tuesday by two members of the Othman family, which owns the Key Food. The owners said they sold the air rights above the property to a developer they declined to name.

The store, along with three attached businesses in properties the Othmans said they also own — Bk Museum Gourmet Deli, The Islands Exotic Carribean Cuisine, and Ludwig's Drug Store — will be closed by February or March of 2017, the Othmans' said. Construction on the new building will wrap up in about three years, they said — meaning the new Key Food should be up and running again sometime in 2019.

One of the Othmans said Ludwig's and The Islands could have a place in the new Key Food, but the other said that wouldn't be the case. A worker at The Islands said the restaurant's owner is already looking for a new location.

And Richard Mastrota, the pharmacist and owner of Ludwig's, said he'll also relocate — either temporarily or permanently, depending on whether he strikes a deal with the Othmans.

In the meantime, Mastrota said he'll transfer his customers to another neighborhood pharmacy, where they'll receive personalized treatment and delivery service.