Monday, March 10, 2014

QUESTION: WHAT'S UP WITH THE BERNHEIMER?

A few Bespoke readers had mentioned that the Conway store in the old Bernheimer Building at 101 West 116th Street was shuttering soon and had wondered if this would portend to new construction arriving in the near future.  The low-level building right by the express stop on Lenox would be ideal for an adaptive reuse project that would build up on a classical base but nothing that exciting seems to be a happening here.

Folks should note that Amy Ruth's also has a space at another section of this building and does not appear to be forced to move.  With that said,  this might just be a case of a business that has finished up with its lease and has decided to move on.  There are also no new permits on the DOB website so nothing is really planned here from what we can tell.  Check out more photos of the Bernheimer in our past post: LINK

13 comments:

  1. This could be such a gorgeous building and a great re-use project. Somebody could restore the classic facade and get some nice retail in the bottom and build residential above. Not sure it would involve displacing amy ruth's ...

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  2. The Conway store on the Fulton Mall in Brooklyn is having a big closeout sale too so the chain may be going out of business.

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  3. from a Google search:
    "Conway Stores, the discount retailer owning stores throughout the East, South and Midwest, has been sold to National Stores, reports Women's Wear Daily. As part of the transaction, Conway's New York buying office has been shut down and its staff laid off."

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  4. please, trader joe's, move in! what can we, as readers, do to get trader joe's to consider harlem? we can wish all we want on this blog, but i doubt trader joe's headquarters is reading this. wish they were. i've going to trader joe's dot com - http://www.traderjoes.com/about/location-requests-form.asp - and put in my request. maybe all of us readers can bombard them with requests and they'll consider it more and more. if change.org can get 1000 signatures for citibikes to come to harlem (yah!), then we can send trader joe's 1000 location requests.

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    1. Oh my gosh - a trader joes here would be awesome. The lines at Best Yet on the weekend are outrageous. We could use another upscale grocery around here pronto! (pun intended for all you trader joes insiders)

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  5. I hope they build something nice using the base of that beautiful building. That corner should be restored. It is depressing walking by

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  6. The property could be a game changer if done right. Don't expect anything from Trader Joe's. They talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Whole Foods on the other hand have already got their future Harlem home just 9 blocks north. .

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  7. Could be a beautiful and super important corner for our neighborhood but having the ugly Conway's there always made that impossible. Would be nice to stay away from a high rise over it as well- keep the low rise, put a nice store in there and let the neighborhood enjoy the space- how about Trader Joe's? I wrote to them about a year ago suggesting this very space and got a formulaic, but at least appropriate response that they consider all requests for expansion.

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    1. Why not a high rise above it? This corner is home to other high rises and filling in the density around this subway station would be good for all the other nearby businesses

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  8. Recently moved to the neighborhood. My wife found out that another retailer was moving in to the space, but she could not get any more details.

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  9. This School is now listing the location address as their headquarters:
    http://www.standingtall.org/services.html

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  10. Isnt there a Head Start on the 116th side? would they be displaced? And why would Conway have repainted their facade this past season if they were displaced. It is a hideous color, by the way, for a noble old building. Let us all pray for not another hgh-rise.

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    1. the repainting was part of a repair job to the façade. it was a safety issue that they were required to resolve. stones had been falling off due to disrepair.

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