Columbia Buys Old West Harlem Fairway Market For $84 Million

WEST HARLEM, NY — Columbia University has bought the old Fairway Market complex in West Harlem, a source familiar with the sale told Patch, further advancing the school's expansion into the neighborhood.

The university closed in late December on an $84 million deal to buy the old market site on 12th Avenue between West 125th and 133rd streets, running along the Hudson River near the on-ramp to the West Side Highway. The sale was first reported by Commercial Observer.

The once-popular supermarket closed in 2020 as its parent company entered bankruptcy. Since then, the Glickberg family, which founded Fairway, had been trying to sell the Harlem property — drawing interest from film studios, life-science organizations, big-box retailers, parking and self-storage companies, and more, according to the source.

Ultimately, though, it was Columbia who won out in the battle for the 2.5-acre site, which spans three blocks and includes the former market building, a 13,000-square-foot warehouse, and a 68,000-square-foot parking lot — not to mention the former Fairway billboard that has long advertised to highway drivers.

Now, the site completes a missing link in Columbia's emerging West Harlem campus, linking its new buildings near Broadway with the far West Side.

The source said Columbia had no immediate plans to redevelop the site, with the purchase functioning more as a contingency plan. If the university does decide to build on it, the neighborhood's zoning would allow a building of up to 220,000 square feet.

Columbia did not respond to a request for comment about its plans.

The next steps in Columbia's expansion will include a 34-story residential tower being built on West 125th Street and Broadway, the former home of a McDonald's. That building is expected to be done by 2023.

Previous coverage: Harlem Fairway Market To Close After Sale Falls Through

Have a Harlem news tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.