South Harlem area

Personally I prefer between roughly 120th to 125th, Mt Morris Park West to Fred Doug, maybe as far as Morningside Dr., which is Central Harlem. The historic architecture here is the best, and 125th is much better than 116th. Closer to Central Park is closer to the park, but actually kind of boring. Too far up into the 130s gets a little sketchy, so if you go that way, look to the nice stretches on St Nick or Convent.

Pro tip: it's still Lenox Ave.

I am a 15+ year resident of Hamilton Heights, and I am a broker that specializes in the UWS, Central Harlem, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights. While I can't/won't address issues that cross into Fair Housing- I can discuss some neighborhood specific issues.

Neighborhood distinctions- I don't agree with Streeteasy on the Eastern border between East Harlem and Central Harlem- but I hang on the old world border of 5th Ave...and my clients generally agree. The borders of Central Harlem from West Harlem are far easier to define- as parks line the borders nearly continuously from South to North- Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park and Jackie Robinson Park. Not only are there parks separating- but Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights, both in West Harlem- are located in elevated locations (and the Heights name designation) while Central Harlem is in the Valley. The elevation differences are largely defined within the parks themselves.

Most of my clients prefer Morningside Heights, Central Harlem either south of 125th st or 145th st and north, or Hamilton Heights. In lieu of other reasonable options- a lot of my clients have also opted for the Audubon Historic District in the southern most section of Washington Heights.

Each of these areas have their own pro's and cons. For example- Morningside Heights has extremely limited options for condo buyers outside of Vandewater. So many of my buyers want to be close to Columbia but not all want to be or are the best fit for a co-op- so I recommend either Central Harlem or Hamilton Heights. For those that love the vibe of Hamilton Heights- there aren't lots of newer construction condo buildings- so most of the options will be pre-war condo conversions. I can go on- but let's move back to your specific post.

I have a condo along FDB in that lower Central Harlem stretch closing (hopefully) next week in the $900-950 sq ft price point- so some deals can be found. That said- Central Harlem has lots of quirky situations that aren't obvious.

The Trader Joes that is up coming and Whole Foods (and will be sort of diagonally across the street from each other) are great additions to the neighorhood- especially with the bankruptcy of Fairway. On that note- it's kind of curious what happens with the Fairway building- as there is a Shoprite operator that purchased the parking lot next to Fairway, but not the building. I have speculated that they were going to buy the site for pennies on the dollar- but haven't heard anything in about a year. The $6-7 Billion campus expansion of Columbia PLUS the $600 million new science buildings at City College PLUS the new Manhattanville Factory District in process of being built out- all huge investments into the area.

I have been taking clients to the new condo constructions- with 300 West having the most number of contracts signed for new constructions last week for all of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens - by a runaway number. Some of the other new constructions in the area are smaller and haven't been reporting their stats. I think each of the new buildings that are starting to close or recently started closings offers something different. The UWS is great and I specialize there as well - and it will be appealing to many, but it's a different product and neighborhood. If you want to be closer to Central Park- I like 145 CPN and 10 Lenox...but they feel too far removed from most retail for my personal preference- but some buyers will be ok with that for the proximity to Central Park. For those seeking unobstructed Park views- but don't need to be on Central Park- I love 99 Morningside. For buyers that want the best bang for the buck with some amenities and not be in a smaller building and also private outdoor space- 11 Hancock is a great option. For those that really want a larger building with amenities to match- either 300 West or Vandewater are my favorites. Again- I could go on, but I leave it at this. There aren't a lot of people that still monitor/post on this board that know the current market north of 110th st- so I wouldn't expect lots of posts here.

I had a friend who was an early buyer at 1400 Fifth (@116th) who loved it there -- I ended up selling her place a few years ago after she passed. I think that much of the "investment" pop from these units, many of which were constructed ~2005-ish, may have already happened... I find both 1400 Fifth and the Kalahari expensive at this point ... but I pretty much agree with the thesis that Central Harlem is kind of an extension of the Upper West Side. (I live in "Bloomingdale," FWIW, so I'm already used to the idea of a Columbia University Satellite Neighborhood.) The park usage is somewhat different, though... I would feel far less comfortable in Morningside Park than in Riverside Park after dark, though as a female I'd try to avoid both.

ali r.
{Upstairs Realty}

Great post, uptownspecialist!

Keith
TBG

Thanks Keith. Hope all is well it's been just shy of a year since we did a deal together (Hamilton Heights 2/2 condo). Love to do more with you.

Cheers,
Adam

I'm with George here: the neighborhood around Marcus Garvey & up to Strivers Row is preferable to the lower 110s, unless you're in one of the cool historic buildings directly across from the park.

However, I feel the Whole Foods was a huge disappointment. If you mainly view such outposts as a fast-casual lunch spot, then it's ok, but for actual shopping the selection and experience were very poor -- nothing like the WF in places like Tribeca. They seem to treat groceries as an afterthought, more akin to e.g. Eataly. Unfortunately their emergence coincides with the closure of (excellent) Best Market on FDB, supposedly to be replaced by Lidl but delayed indefinitely. Pioneer on 129 is your best bet for now.

Hey Adam can you shoot me an email, I have a listing for you.

Keith

Richard, did you ever see when the corner of MLK and Malcolm X featured an assemblage of rat-infested abandoned buildings? Whatever your complaints about Whole Foods (and I have many), it surely beats the Pioneer.

Quite a few good reasons to live there , one of the hottest areas in town

It is a nice area, it actually has less racists comparing to other "prime" neighborhoods in the city