Harlem Whole Foods the Crown Jewel of Decade-Long Rezoning
By Everic White

May 19, 2016

585 Words

When a Starbucks on the northeast corner of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem in 1999, it was hailed as a harbinger for gentrification in a part of the city once feared for crime and urban blight. Seventeen years later, the arrival of a Whole Foods complex across the street signals a peak of business development on the east-to-west Manhattan thoroughfare. The building, spearheaded by Wharton Properties’ Jeff Sutton, will feature a Burlington Coat Factory, American Eagle Outfitters, Olive Garden, and TD Bank, in addition to the Whole Foods.

Though the new development starkly contrasts the brownstones lining Lenox Avenue to the south and the Mount Morris Park Historic District to the east, 100 West 125th Street will be just the latest in a series of nation retailer-driven buildings on the commercial street. In 2000, Harlem U.S.A., a six-level shopping center on 125th and Frederick Douglass Boulevard opened its doors to Magic Johnson Theaters, and also houses a Modell’s Sporting Goods, Old Navy, New York Sports Club, and an additional TD Bank. Business has been booming on 125th for a while, according to many business advocates in the area.

Drew Greenwald of Grid Properties, a real estate development firm on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, confirmed the high value of commercial real estate in the area. The Whole Foods is a “positive addition to the community in terms of increasing access to retail goods and services.” He added “Harlem is still at an early stage of having the types of shopping and dining options that are available in other parts of Manhattan.” Greenwald is correct, especially in terms of groceries and food.

It is no secret that Central Harlem is part of one of the many low-income food deserts in New York City. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the Harlem Census tract that the Whole Foods building borders has a modified Retail Food Environmental Index or mRFEI of 2, representing the percentage of total food retailers considered healthy in the census tract. For contrast, the highest mRFEI a tract can have is 100. After the longtime Pathmark supermarket on 125th Street and Lexington Avenue closed in late 2015, residents like Gina Ramcharan are excited about the prospect of having a healthy retailer of food on the retail corridor.

“This should be a good thing for the families in the neighborhood. The Pathmark was no longer serving Harlem,” said the consultant associated with the Harlem Business Alliance. Curtis Archer, President of the Harlem Community Development Corporation, agreed on the impact of the Whole Foods development, pointing to neighboring businesses and residences. “With the changing demographic in Harlem, these folks in those brownstones want these kinds of amenities.” Mr. Archer also remarked, “Right across the street from the Whole Foods site, there’s the restaurant Harlem Shake. You’ll bet they’re welcoming it.”

Also welcoming are the general improvements to the area surrounding the Whole Foods complex. Across Lenox Avenue, the spaces across from the development are slowly filling. A rare shoe consignment store and event space called Sneaker Pawn now lives next to what was once the Lenox Lounge. What was once a cheap Chinese food place has been shuttered. Barbara Askins, President and CEO of the 125th Street Business Improvement District referred to other improvements like “installation of new street lighting and traffic signals.” Again, Mr. Archer agreed that the new Whole Foods location is a feather in the cap of over a decade’s worth of development. “It’s elevating the game in the community,” he laughed.