By Gus Saltonstall
A developer just purchased the Upper West Side building that houses one of the neighborhood’s two Gristedes Supermarkets for nearly $30 million, according to property records and as first reported by Crain’s New York.
Terra Developers, a Brooklyn-based real estate firm, bought 500 Columbus Avenue, between West 84th and 85th streets, for $28 million from CKMR Corporation, which was formerly known as Sloan’s Supermarkets, the city registry shows.
The five-story building houses Gristedes on the ground floor and then has four floors of residential apartments. The property also has a laundromat and a shoe repair business off the corner of West 84th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam.
Gristedes has served customers at 500 Columbus Avenue for decades. The supermarket has another Upper West Side location on Broadway, between West 103rd and 104th streets.
It is unclear what Terra Developers plans to do with the property. The firm owns one other address on the Upper West Side at 214 West 80th Street. The property is a condominium building with just six apartments.
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Jeez. I remember Sloan’s! Also, if the Gristedes space on 86th off Broadway is anything to go by, if this Gristedes closes, it will be empty for years and years and years
I just dropped in to mention both Sloan’s and the Associated grocery store between 82nd and 83rd streets when I was growing up. The last I remember both of them being there was the late 1980’s.
And years and years and years …
A friend of mine works at the DoB. Long ago he told me there was a base building issue with the store on 86th St. That is why it closed up on immediate notice. It will cost millions to correct.
prices are so high, should be renamed, “Greedstedes”
I stopped shopping at Gristedes a long time ago due to their high prices for everything. Other neighborhood stores are much better. I’m not sorry to see them go! Good riddance!
Real mystery how Gristeedes has managed to stay in business. High prices and poor quality is not a winning combination
Yes, and every location is like this! Very strange that they’ve managed to stick around……
Owned by a billionaire who obviously doesn’t need the revenue from any one store.
Gristeedes is an old school awful market. It’s what markets were before Whole Foods and nicer markets appeared. Reminds me of 1970’s NY. And isn’t that building in the UWS historic district where nothing can be built? Part of the housing problem is besides Broadway almost nothing new can be built in the UWS historic district which has lots of old ugly buildings that would be better replaced with larger scale and nicer architecture. Keep the nice buildings and allow replacement of the others.
I wouldn’t say the historic UWS district has lots of ugly buildings….. just look at the East Side at what went up after “ugly” buildings were torn down! You want a soul-less highrise built??
Agree. Some folks have called the soul-less high rises just what was needed. We differ.
As far as I can tell, at least half the UWS is a historic district. It’s no wonder NYC can’t manage to increase its housing stock.
I often wonder if there is any limit to misinformation, but I know better: there isn’t. If there is such a thing as an UWS historic district where nothing can be built how is that a brand-new hi-rise building has just gone up nearby?
Hint: there is no historic district on the Upper West Side—or anywhere else in New York City—that bans new construction or building entirely.
(Unrelated, but you know what else? There’s no such thing as a “tax write-off” for empty storefronts!)
Re a “tax write-off” for leaving storefronts empty, you are technically correct. However: “New York City landlords do not get a specific tax break or special write-off just for leaving a storefront empty. However, though they still have to pay regular property taxes, they can deduct standard building operating expenses (like maintenance and utilities) from their overall taxable business income.”
Yeah but good luck demolishing a building to build a new one. See the West Park church saga.
Sadly that is true. We are the only city that allows deletes to destroy its fabric. Neither DC nor SF allows it & they are far more livable cities bc of it.
According to West Side Rag’s excellent reporter Scott Etkin, 25% of the Upper West Side is in a Historic District. These restrict development.
https://www.westsiderag.com/2026/06/25/uws-shed-watch-preserving-the-upper-west-sides-historic-charm-takes-time-and-sidewalk-sheds
See map on Landmark’s site
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/fa1bcaad31374a88839da3f0166e640a/page/Page
Fair enough. Thank you. That means the new owners of 500 Columbus Avenue are allowed to completely gut and modernize the interior residential units but the exterior shell, facade and architectural character must remain intact.
I still take issue, however, with the notion that almost nothing new can be built. Our neighborhood is a patchwork of protected zones and unprotected “gaps” where standard New York City zoning laws apply.
Moreover, I think preserving the Upper West Side’s character–that is, the neighborhood’s visual heritage–is a good thing.
“Gristedes has served customers at 500 Columbus Avenue for decades”…charging outrageous prices. Just one example. There is a specialty chip that I buy regularly. For a while, Gristedes was the only store that carried it – and they charged over $8/bag.
Fairway just started carrying it – and they charge ~$5/bag. And no, Fairway is NOT buying a higher “bulk purchase” which keeps the price down. The two stores buy from the same distributor, at the same “per carton” price. Yet Gristede’s charges $3 more per bag than Fairway. and Fairway almost certainly pays a higher rent on Broadway than Gristede’s does on Columbus.
Check out Westside market on 98th to see even crazier pricing. The yoghurt I like is $7+ from Fresh Direct, $8+ at Whole Foods & $11.99 at West Side MarkUp!
I’m no fan of Gristede’s but I won’t fault a business for charging a premium on a product if they are the only place in the area carrying it. This isn’t like price gouging on essentials.
So what’s the explanation for them asking for $8 for a half-pound package of cream cheese? Around $1.99 at Trader Joe’s. Even the drugstores sell it for half of what Gristedes wants.
Don’t worry. When our mayor opens a city run grocery store on the UWS you’ll be able to purchase a wide variety of high quality food at rock bottom prices.
What exactly is your argument against it aside from providing healthy food to at a discount to people that have been paying a premium for crappy food for a long time and the collateral benefits that come with healthy eating.
There is only going to be one store per borough, and the UWS is NOT going to be the location of the Manhattan store.
Interestingly, Mamdani’s city-run grocery stores will require patrons to show ID to prove who they are, and to prove they are legal residents of NYC, so as not to “game the system” and illegally get discount groceries. These same politicians say that people who show up at polling places on Election Day should NOT have to show ID to prove who they are, because it’s racist or something…..
🤪🤡🤪🤡🤪🤡🤣🤣🤣
You sure got that wrong about IDs at poll sites, and being “racist or something….”
‘ Staff will have to enforce who can shop: only those with a “library card-esque” customer ID card (which is nothing like a voter ID because . . . well, because).’
https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/opinion/mamdanis-grocery-store-specs-show-the-idea-is-even-crazier-than-we-thought/
You’re behind the news. There will NOT be ANY ID required. Please check your facts before you post.
Incorrect. People who want to shop there will be given ID cards, which they must show upon checkout. Try to keep up with the news!
A 3 second Google search reveals that you won’t need ID to shop at whatever this store winds up being. Someone has misled you.
So we, the tax paying citizens of NYC, will be subsidizing anyone who wants to drive to the Bronx store to shop?
I hope Castimatidis keeps to his promise to close his crummy stores in response! Good riddance I say.
As much as I disparage developers gobbling up chunks of real estate that give the neighborhood its familiar character and represent stability for local residents, I will not be sorry to see Gristedes go. In my nearly five decades living here, I’ve shopped at the store maybe a dozen times, invariably for the one item I need to complete a menu I had planned for that day. Although it’s a convenient two-block walk from me, its existence barely registers when I pass it on my way to Key Food or Trader Joe’s. Its exorbitant prices are just too ridiculous.
I’m with you! My response exactly! I pass it by as I walk to Trader Joe’s or Key Food.
Why are you against developers increasing housing stock? Would you prefer that an increasing population simply bid up existing prices since no new homes are coming on the market?
ENOUGH! If you’re so eager for new homes,
check out what will happen at Columbus and 66th-68th and compare prices.
And when people trade up to those upscale units it frees up units further down which people move into freeing up additional units. So you get more housing stock and more free units all the way down the value chain. But I suppose complaining about it is simpler than actually thinking about it for a few moments.
If you think the people moving into the super-luxuries are local residents doing a bit of upgrading, you’ve been watching too many reruns of The Jeffersons. The super-luxe super-talls are bought by super-rich out-of-towners as investment property or pieds-a-terres or apartments for their kiddos so the privileged youngsters don’t have to make do with the dorms at Columbia. Building more luxury won’t make more apartments available or cheaper for the rest of us.
There’s lots of housing stock if one is a multi millionaire, stock isn’t the issue…
I’m a bit confused by the description of the other building Terra owns that is a condo . In a condo don’t the unit owners own the building ?
The other Terra-owned building is not yet condominiums — It is a the former Apthorp parking garage that is being converted to luxury apartments. The construction is not nearly finished, contrary to its Terra listing: https://www.terradevny.com/214-w-80-st.html
I face the rear of the building, which is covered in black netting and still undergoing major structural work daily.
https://www.westsiderag.com/2025/02/13/uws-garage-previously-shut-down-for-dangerous-conditions-sells-for-10-5m
Technically, you are correct. In a condo building, the unit owners own their individual unit plus a fractional portion of the common elements. The condo board/association then makes decisions with respect to the operations of the property and charge assessments for capital projects.
In NYC, it is not uncommon for a mixed-use building to have a (i) commercial condo unit and (ii) residential condos. Many developers/building owners will keep the commercial condo unit for themselves (arguably more profitable) and then turn over operations of the residential component to the condo board once the required number of residential condo units have been sold.
In this building there are 4 floors of “rental apartments” above Gristedes. They have been empty for decades. I don’t know the laws, if the building can be knocked down or if the apartments can be rehabilitated and somd as condos
The building with the Gristede’s in it has rental apartments (which another commenter says are empty). It’s Terra’s other UWS building that has condo units in it. Yeah, that confused me too the first time I read the article.
Bring on the next high rise of luxury condos!
Saw mention elsewhere that there are multiple apartments which have been held vacant for years
What year did Sloan’s buy it?
A tiny slice of UWS history is about to be lost. In 1937 the owner rented the building to the Schuyler Theater. But a theater is a large open space and can’t accommodate support columns for upper floors. So the top 2 floors of the northern part of the building were removed. Hence the odd look of the current building and why there are no windows above the supermarket to this day. The theater lasted into the 1950s, under different names.
I can’t see another grocery store go! There is none in a comfortable walking distance for carrying groceries. Broadway Farm closed down too 🥲
If you can make it to Gristedes on 84/Columbus, or the old Broadway Farm on 85th/Bway I am hard pressed to see how you can’t make it to the Key Food on 85th/Amsterdam.
Do people actually shop at Gristede’s? If so, why?
I do shop at that Gristede’s sometimes, though almost never for a full grocery run because yes the prices are very high for many things. We live very close by (Central Park West) so to schlepp to Amsterdam Avenue or Broadway and back when I need a one onion or something for that evening’s meal just isn’t happening. When I’ve just started meal prep, that extra 10 -15 minutes saved to get dinner done on time might be worth $1,00, for example.
We treat it as a convenience store: the Gristede’s prices are often cheaper than the nearby bodegas and it has stuff the bodegas don’t.
I’m also eternally grateful for that Gristede’s as it got us through the COVID-19 lockdown period with grace and relative reliability. I have a long memory.. The staff there is also very friendly, and that counts for something. So, sometimes I overlook the prices for the people.
I grew up downtown near a Gristedes. Across the street was a Mitchell-Llama building with a lot of elderly residents. I remember whenever I went into the Gristedes to get some small item we ran out of at home, the vast majority of the customers were elderly folks living in the Mitchell-Llama, often with walkers or mobility issues. My guess was they mightve have a hard time walking farther to get to another grocery store? It made Gristedes’ insane prices feel even more greedy
I would be surprised if they don’t tear down the building to build another hi-rise like they have done in many places on the UWS.
The four floors of apartments (30 in all) are empty for years. Hopefully the new owner will renovate them and put them on the market.
As much as I can’t wait to see the demise of Gristedes, losing the laundromat will be devastating. I live on 85th and CPW and this is the only self-serve laundromat within a 10 min walk for me 🙁 Wash-and-fold is more than double the cost of self-service.
At one point in time the space occupied by the market was a movie theater.
Gristedes is an overpriced store with a highly conservative owner who couldn’t care less about its employees and the customers they serve. How ANY self-respecting UWSer can shop there is beyond me, and there are lot of other stores where you can go throw your money away on the UWS that isn’t owned by an idiot mouthpiece for the Republican party.
Ah, so we only shop at stores owned by people who agree with our politics. Got it. Glad to see that UWSers are still so open minded and equitable.
This is the same argument some people make for boycotting stores owned by Jews, and for withdrawing approved government grants from people researching the health effects of race. Do you agree with people who do those things?
I don’t understand the comments that are saying, “Good riddance, the prices are too high.” Do you think Gristede’s will be replaced by a supermarket with lower prices? If you’re already shopping at another supermarket with lower prices, what do you gain by Gristede’s disappearance? Obviously its convenience for some people outweighs its other possible disadvantages, or it would go out of business.
I think it should/could be replaced by any other store that will provide more value to the neighborhood. Maybe that’s a grocery store, maybe not.
My elderly uncle shops there. He can walk there and staff are nice to him.
Surprised people not living near that store or using it have strong opinions
I have occasionally shopped here over the years out of convenience. A couple of years ago I ran in to grab an emergency can of cat food and encountered the largest rat I have ever seen just hanging out in the aisle. Eventually it sauntered into the back of the store. When I told the employees, they just shrugged. Giant rat + Giant Markups=Hard Pass.
My wishlist includes something for the “other” defunct-for-years Gristedes/Gap on the north west corner of 86th and Broadway. Could we please have a Trader Joe’s or Wegeman’s or Whole Foods there. Please?!
Please!!! Maybe we should suggest this to them. So depressing passing it for so many years. We need more places selling food.
If you want to pay more than any other grocery store in NYC, go to Gristedes. Super expensive
Hopefully this is a tear down and a new larger taller building in its place.
The comments remind me that UWSers sitting in their million dollar condos or rent stabilized apts. are the most spoiled and entitled group you will ever meet.
Gristedes has stayed in business for years because land prices underneath these building have risen steadily for decades.
Any possibility of a follow up article on how the landlord kept so many apartments vacant for so long?
The financial aspect?
Many of the apartments need extensive renovation. Under strict nyc rent laws it would take years to recover the cost.
In addition the landlord may be waiting for a better pollical climate which would allow higher rents
In addition why get stuck with a lousy tenant who may not pay rent for years,.
My prayers have been answered! 84th St. resident here. I curse this store and its owner whenever I go there, usually out of desperation. High prices for mediocre, limited products. Insulting! Catsimatidis should get out of the grocery business. He has no idea what quality is.
Bring back the movie theatre!
My great-aunt bought all of her groceries at that market. Sloan’s was a good chain.