(Illustration: Lauren Carol Smith)

(Illustration: Lauren Carol Smith)

Academy Annex is moving on up – from Williamsburg to Greenpoint.

Owner Mike Davis says the record store has to leave its current building on N. 6th St. because it’s “getting torn down to make way for much needed luxury condos” (dude, good one).

The new space at 83 Oak Street, on the corner of Franklin Avenue, will be “cavernous” compared to the one that Davis — who also owns Academy Records in the East Village — moved into 10 years ago. And (as you can see in our handy map) it’ll also turn Greenpoint into a sort of vinyl mecca, with Permanent Records, Record Grouch, The Thing, and Co-Op 87 also in rotation.

Is the rent really better over in Greenpoint? Yes, says Davis, and to make the deal even sweeter, his new space is the very one he’d had his eye on since learning he’d be getting the boot. “It’s got tons of windows and twenty-foot ceilings,” says Davis. And – in case y’all haven’t noticed – “that whole stretch of Franklin Avenue is starting to explode somewhat.”

Hard to imagine now, but Davis said that 10 years ago, his current space was also his first choice: “When I wanted a store in Williamsburg, I got on my bike and found this spot in five minutes.” Given that his rent is a quarter of market value and an Urban Outfitters is moving in next door, it was only a matter of time…

In the new space, Academy will just keep on doin’ its thing, only better. There’s a lot more space for selling used records, new vinyl, and Academy t-shirts. Once the dust settles, Davis hopes to amp up the release schedule for the Academy LPs record label.

So, when will that dust be settling? Davis hopes to move by early September. Plenty of time to say goodbye to the Williamsburg he once loved.