Category Archives: commercial real estate

Harlem gas station in demand

Posted on August 20, 2012 | 6 comments

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According to The New York Post this morning (Aug 20), the owners of the Harlem gas station on 110th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd have been busy fighting off the City of New York from taking over their property.

The article states that Carmie Elmore and a partner took over the gas station in 1981 when Harlem was seedy. Now that Harlem is hot and has been on an upward trajectory for a while, the city apparently owned it at one time and wants its gas station back. Each entity is heading to Manhattan Supreme Court to make its point.

When I first moved to Harlem and was looking at apartments to buy, I remember either my broker or another local telling me this farfetched, ridiculous statement about this corner…get ready for this, which was that it was being eyed by the Donald Trump himself. Did anyone else get fed this line when buying an apartment in South Harlem? I recall someone mentioning that Donald Trump was interested in the Harlem gas station because he wants to own property bookends on the westside of Central Park–one property already exists at Columbus Circle.

Crazy stuff huh? But now that I am reading this article, it makes me wonder what the City is really up to? If Mr. Elmore and his business partner own the gas station and they don’t want to sell it, shouldn’t that be the end of the discussion? Punto! What do you think?

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Posted in 110th Street, business, commercial real estate, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC

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Harlem neighborhoods experience price jump in rental market

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

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According to RentJuice®, a Zillow® business and provider of lease marketing technology to thousands of real estate property managers and brokers, the uptown part of Manhattan, specifically Harlem neighborhoods, experienced a price jump in the rental sector of real estate. In a news release distributed today, it stated that “over the last quarter, the city’s average cost for space remained stable at $4.98 per square foot-exactly the same as at the close of the first quarter. The largest hike in price per square foot occurred uptown in Harlem. Neighborhoods such as Central Harlem, Harlem and Morningside all experienced 11 percent jumps in average price per square foot in the second quarter. Renters in Hamilton Heights, however, saw a five percent decrease in average price per square foot.”

To read the full news release, click here.

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Posted in 110th Street, 116th Street, 125th Street, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., apartments, commercial real estate, Community, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Lenox Avenue, New York, New York City, NYC, real estate

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Let’s help kickstart Seasoned Vegan in Harlem

Posted on June 10, 2012 | 2 comments

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Who was inspired by the recent  New York Daily News article about The Beeners and their effort to open Harlem’s first full-service, vegan soul food restaurant? I certainly was! According to the article, Chef Brenda Beener and her son Aaron (mother and son), plan to open their vegan restaurant in August on Frederick Douglass Blvd. near 116th St., which is also known as Harlem’s restaurant row. But before they can open their establishment there is some major financing they must have in place, around $250k. The Beeners have turned to Kickstarter.com (and to us) to help them reach that sum.

There are various donation levels on their Kickstarter page from $5 to $500. If you are interested in helping Seasoned Vegan in Harlem become a reality, make your donation here.

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Posted in business, commercial real estate, Community, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, restaurant row, restaurants

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Rental building planned for St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem

Posted on May 22, 2012 | 2 comments

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For the last several years, all Harlem has seen is condo buildings going up-one after the other-especially on or near Frederick Douglass Blvd. Another building is going to be constructed in this Harlem area. However, it’s not going to be a condo. Several sources tell Harlem Gal Inc that the next building to be built from the ground up in Central Harlem will be a rental building and the developer responsible for this will be Hans Futterman. Futterman has built 2280 FDB and several other buildings in the surrounding area in Harlem.

Futterman purchased the space on St. Nicholas Avenue between 121st and 122nd Street. It’s where the gas station use to be. If you walk by you will see that it’s been closed and permits are hanging on the fence. Futterman has told several business people in Harlem that he is going to build a rental building at this location in Harlem since most of what he has built has been condos!

There is no word yet as to what the building will look like in terms of layout or how high. As with most stories, that information will unfold over time.

As for whether this building will be an affordable rental building, I seriously doubt it. Most of what Futterman builds is mid-to-high end. Stay tuned!

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Posted in apartments, business, commercial real estate, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, real estate

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Cooper-Hewitt Design Center coming to Harlem, opening date planned for May 12

Posted on April 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

According to The Wall Street Journal, The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will open a storefront space May 12 in Harlem. The Cooper-Hewitt Design Center will be at 111 Central Park North and “will allow the museum’s educators to conduct other free workshops for children, teenagers and adults.”

Cooper-Hewitt signed a four-year lease for the Central Park North space located at the base of Harlem and which has an express subway stop, the 2/3 to 110th Street. To learn more, click here.20120423-090922.jpg

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Posted in art and culture, business, commercial real estate, education, Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC

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Gateway Condo in Harlem near capacity in commercial and apartment space

Posted on April 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

The diligent PR folks over at Halstead Property have let us bloggers know, through a press release, that The Gateway Tower in Harlem is more than 90 percent sold. However, the release did not mention the commercial space of the Gateway Condo is full. It’s all gone! There is Express Dry Cleaning, Coco Nail Salon and Marcos Leatherlab that are already open for business.  And two more businesses will be opening soon, which is Harlem Food Bar and Frederick Cafe Bistro. This area has shaped up nicely with Melba’s Restaurant leading the way in dining area and I believe Gateway Condo was the first new condo on this block and immediate area?

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Posted in apartments, business, commercial real estate, Frederick Cafe Bistro Harlem, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, real estate, restaurant row, restaurants

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Construction begins on Harlem Food Bar

Posted on March 27, 2012 | 2 comments

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There was construction activity happening yesterday (March 26) at 2100 Frederick Douglass Blvd, which will be the home of Harlem Food Bar (HFB). And it appears Harlem Food Bar will have seating next to full length, open windows so that patrons can look out on to FDB? Very nice. I can already imagine sipping some wine and people watching!

According to Scott Siler, one of the HFB owners, Harlem Food Bar will be a 30 seat restaurant offering a reasonably priced, diverse menu where locals from Harlem can come and dine for less. And if you don’t want to dine at HFB, Siler says it will offer food delivery for those that want to dine at home.

Harlem Food Bar is expected to open in May! So stay tuned! We are all getting another place to hang in Harlem. Love it!

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Posted in Bars, business, commercial real estate, Community, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, restaurant row, restaurants

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116th Street in Harlem featured in The Wall Street Journal

Posted on February 17, 2012 | Leave a comment


Generally when reading about Harlem’s famous or busy streets in the press, it usually about 125th Street, Lenox Avenue or Frederick Douglass Blvd. This time in today’s (Feb. 17) Wall Street Journal, the focus is on West and Central 116th Street in Harlem. The article states there is a gathering of new businesses and future projects, many of them created due to the large condominium buildings, and many of them are drawing more street traffic to a gentrifying stretch of 116th Street, specifically from FDB to Fifth Avenue.

The existing businesses mentioned in the article are very well-known already in the neighborhood, such as The Winery and its plans to open up a Japanese restaurant, Harlem Shambles and BBraxton, a sleek male salon on 116th and Fifth Ave. What was surprising-at least to me-is that the developers of the Kalahari Condo “hope to begin construction within a few months on two new buildings: a proposed 85-unit building on West 116th, across the street from the Kalahari, and a mixed-income building with about 110 “affordable” rentals on West 117th.”

To read the full article, click here.

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Posted in 116th Street, apartments, business, commercial real estate, Harlem, real estate, restaurants, shopping

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Bier international in Harlem takes over Society Cafe commercial space

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 5 comments

Thank goodness for readers and their juicy tips. Those tips can eventually lead to correct facts. For example, look at our post about a Japanese restaurant opening on Frederick Douglass Blvd. The Winery is opening up the Japanese restaurant. Now the latest tip in is how the owner(s) of bier international in Harlem have taken over the commercial space of where Society Cafe use to be. Society was located on the southeast corner of 114th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd before it closed in 2011.

Apparently the plans for this space on FDB and 114th Street are to keep it as it was, a cafe, where sandwiches and coffee are sold. The other tip is that the place will more than likely be called Cafe Frederick! Not a bad name…right?

Once this new cafe opens, all the commercial space in the Gateway Tower will be filled and another place can be added to the Frederick Douglass Blvd tourist map, a.k.a. restaurant row, which The Daily News reported on recently.

Update: The name of this establishment ended up being named Frederick Cafe Bistro.

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Posted in Bars, bier international, business, commercial real estate, drinks, food, Frederick Cafe Bistro Harlem, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, New York, New York City, NYC, real estate, restaurant row, restaurants

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Harlem’s restaurant row, Frederick Douglass Blvd., has its own map and alliance group

Posted on January 29, 2012 | 1 comment

It’s official…again! Frederick Douglass Blvd in Harlem from 110th to 125th Street, also known as restaurant row, has its very own map, according to The New York Daily News. And the folks behind the map is an alliance group called Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance (FDBA). Check out the map below. It mentions all existing businesses from 110th to 124th Street. The map does not include up and coming places on FDB, such as the Harlem Food Bar or Marcos Leatherlab, the cobbler store.

Lia San Filippo, co-owner of 5 and Diamond Harlem restaurant and co-president of the recently formed FDBA, tells the Daily News “the map was created to help people know that Harlem is here and helps customers find us more easily.” Amen Lia!

Back in 2008, I wrote a blog posting asking if FDB is turning into Harlem’s restaurant row? Looks like we have our answer not only in a map but in the form of an alliance group!

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Posted in 5 and Diamond Harlem, apartments, art and culture, baking, Bars, bier international, business, Cedric French Bistro and Bar Harlem, commercial real estate, Community, drinks, food, Frederick Douglass Blvd., Harlem, Harlem blogs, Harlem businesses, Harlem Restaurant Row, Harlem restaurants, Harlem Tavern, health and wellness, Lido Italian Restaurant and Bar, Melba's Restaurant Harlem, music, New York, New York City, NYC, real estate, restaurant row, restaurants, shopping, spending

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