West Harlem Pedestrian 'Greenway' Planned By Developer

HARLEM, NY — The redevelopment of West Harlem's so-called "Factory District" will include a pedestrianized walkway spanning three blocks, developers announced Thursday.

The greenway will run from West 125th to 128th streets, snaking through the old factory and brewery buildings that have been renovated in recent years into labs and offices — largely by the Janus Property Company.

It was made possible by Janus's recent purchase of 437 West 126th St., a 1,600-square-foot vacant lot that will be converted into a landscaped recreation area, forming a cross-block passageway connecting the Taystee Lab building and the former Malt House brewery building.

The greenway will be publicly accessible, part of Janus's ambitious plans for a Manhattanville Factory District spanning east from Amsterdam Avenue between West 125th and 128th streets.

Not far from the new Columbia University campus expansion, the district will be focused on life-science labs and other office space.

Ongoing projects in the neighborhood include the Taystee building, expected to finish construction this year at the former Taystee bakery site, and the Mink Building, a red-brick structure formerly home to beer manufacturers that now houses labs.

West Harlem's transformation, spurred by Columbia's expansion, promises to remake the formerly industrial neighborhood into an educational and technological hub. That has sparked widespread fears of displacement and overdevelopment, but developers pledged that the new facilities will be open to Harlem residents.

"We worked with the community and the city to ensure a space that maintains and enhances the walkability and openness of West Harlem," Janus Principal Jerry Salama said in a news release.

"With the upcoming completion of the Taystee Lab Building, we are realizing our vision of an open campus that will be the premier location for the city’s ascendant creative, innovation and life sciences industries."