UPTOWNflavor

Setting: Harlem, New York 2007

Slate: Big Box vs. Mom and Pop Take 2

Roll sound…scene….action!

The NY Times ran down a list of big boxsters back in April that offered a projected view of resurgence of 125th Street.

Fast forward 3 months:

Titles read, July 2007. Blocks of small businesses along 125th Street and her cross streets begin to fade… to… black.

Cut to:

New York Sun reports:

A state-of-the-art, 640,000-square-foot office building with retail on the lower levels, a 200-room hotel, Manhattan‘s first big-box retail center, and a blossoming of trendy boutiques and restaurants: This is a description not of Chelsea, the fast-rising High Line area, or Lower Manhattan. The neighborhood is the legendary home of the Apollo Theater, the great community of Harlem.

V.O.: This isn’t a dream or even a script from an upcoming movie. This is real life in Harlem and the pace of the retail turn over is enough to make even the most progressive person’s head swim with disbelief. And we haven’t even gotten to the river to river or Columbia expansion projects yet.

It’s a developer’s market and the big boxsters are in the bumper seat coming along for the joyride. Hold onto your hats folks, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

NY SUN:

A developer, Wharton Realty, which is owned by Jeff Sutton, one of Manhattan’s most active retail landlords, is planning to construct a 230,000-square-foot tower on the corner of West 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. It would contain retail, a community facility, and apartments. Real estate sources say Bed Bath & Beyond may be the anchor tenant.

Nothing says [insert your own adjective] urban professional like BB&B, especially when it is the anchor store. After all, look at the BB&B in Chelsea. Is Harlem really ‘uppied enough to support a BB&B?

….and cut! It’s a wrap folks!

Related: Racked :: Harlem Fur :: Sharon Quinn ::