How Target and Trader Joe’s arrived in Harlem
Andrew Katz began his career in real estate with Blumenfeld Development Group in the late Nineties when the company was embarked on one of its boldest projects: The 15-year-long transformation of Harlem’s Washburn Wire factory--located between 116th and 119th Streets alongside the FDR Drive--into East River Plaza.
The half-million-sq.-ft center, anchored by Costco, Burlington, and Aldi, proved that a retail oasis could successfully exist in a place that had long been a retail desert.
Today, Katz is the co-founder of The Prusik Group, a New York-based development company that has forged a solid reputation as a retail oasis builder in neglected neighborhoods, its most recent being the Urban Empowerment Center in Harlem.
Mountain climbers use Prusik knots to fasten slings to ropes to rescue fallen climbers. It’s a fastidious and careful process, as was the one that slowly pulled Target and Trader Joe’s into spaces at the newly redeveloped building at 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. in Harlem.
Trader Joe’s held its grand opening there last month, and Target is slated to follow in October.
“The National Urban League wanted their headquarters to be in New York City and Governor Cuomo wanted them to stay there, too. It took a village, but working together,” said Katz. “The state, the city, the National Urban League and the development team of The Prusik Group, L&M Development, BRP Companies, and Taconic Partners brought the dream to reality. A huge factor in getting that done was establishing ground floor retail.”
In its redevelopment planning for the building, Prusik focused on what needed to be done to ensure the offering was attractive to its high-profile retail targets. Items they considered were floor plan layouts, loading areas, and appropriate vertical transportation.
“We wanted to make sure that when we approached Target or Trader Joe’s with the location, they couldn’t say, ‘We love the location, but the physical space doesn’t work for us,’” Katz said.
Prusik communicated with the retailers on the project over a four-year period regarding the opportunity before getting go-aheads from them. Target signed a lease just before COVID-19 appeared on the scene. Trader Joe’s signed on during the pandemic.
Sephora and Pandora took spaces after the anchors were announced.
The National Urban League headquarters will include a newly established civil rights museum, offices for the United Negro College Fund, and Studio Museum Harlem. The Urban Empowerment Center’s residential component will be made up of 100% affordable housing, plus supportive housing for youth aging out of foster care in a partnership with New York Foundling.
“The retail brands that have joined the project speak volumes to the community. They are all very careful about where they go,” Katz remarked. “It makes a big statement. All eyes should be on this project and this community.”
