Old Harlem Fairway Should Stay A Supermarket, BP Tells Columbia

HARLEM, NY — Weeks after Columbia University purchased the former Fairway Market building in West Harlem, two local leaders have a request: allow another supermarket to open there.

In letter sent to the university on Thursday, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and City Councilmember Shaun Abreu asked Columbia to lease the site on 12th Avenue between West 125th and 133rd streets to "another affordable grocer."

Fairway had occupied the site for decades before the popular supermarket closed in 2020 as its parent company entered bankruptcy. After a bidding war that drew interest from film studios, science organizations and big-box retailers, Fairway's owners ultimately sold the site for $84 million last month to Columbia, which may use the site to extend its West Harlem campus all the way to the Hudson River.

Columbia has not said what it will do with the site. In a statement, however, the university said that "It is our hope that another supermarket will occupy this location, and we are in the process of reaching out to potential candidates."

"The Fairway market located at the site was an invaluable resource for the neighborhood and communities across Upper Manhattan, and it was an anchor of the 12th Avenue corridor that we envision as a bustling commercial magnet in years to come," the university said. "Though these conversations have just begun, our aim is for the site to complement Columbia’s ongoing efforts to support a vibrant mix of retail establishments in Manhattanville"

In addition to the vacant, 41,000-square-foot market building, the 2.5-acre site also includes a large parking lot and a 13,000-square-foot warehouse. While open, Fairway was "by far the neighborhood's largest grocer," Abreu and Levine wrote, selling relatively cheap products in a low-income neighborhood that is generally under-served by supermarkets.

"Now that it has closed, many constituents have lost their long-held Fairway job, and residents must travel much farther to find grocery items that had always been in stock at Fairway," the officials said in their letter, which was shared exclusively with Patch.

Since Fairway's 2020 closure, Community Board 9 has advocated for a new grocery store to replace it — a call that Levine and Abreu are now joining. If Columbia does find a new grocery tenant, it should build a new, accessible entrance to the store on 12th Avenue — in addition to the vehicle entrance near the West Side Highway — "so that the store contributes to creating a livable, walkable community," the officials wrote.

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:

• Columbia Buys Old West Harlem Fairway Market For $84 Million
  
• Harlem Fairway Market To Close After Sale Falls Through

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