Trader Joe’s close to finalizing deal for new UWS store

Supermarket would anchor condo building at West 93rd and Columbus

From left: 660-676 Columbus Avenue and the facade of Trader Joe's at 2073 Broadway (credit: Bisnow)
From left: 660-676 Columbus Avenue and the facade of Trader Joe's at 2073 Broadway (credit: Bisnow)

Expect paleo nuts to form orderly queues on the West 90s.

Trader Joe’s is in late-stage negotiations to open a new supermarket on the Upper West Side, at the base of a 30-story condominium tower, sources told The Real Deal.

The popular California-based grocery chain would occupy about 20,000 square feet across the ground floor and lower level at 670 Columbus Avenue, located between West 92nd and 93rd streets, sources said.

The supermarket would occupy most of the 35,000-square-foot retail condominium unit that the Klein Group bought, along with a parking garage, for $60.5 million in October.

A lease is expected to be signed in the next few weeks, sources said.

Party supplies retailer Party City already occupies 13,000 square feet of the retail condo at the 280-unit, 290,000-square-foot condo building, which the Starrett Corp. converted from rentals in 2007.

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Jacob Klein, president of Florham Park, N.J.-based the Klein Group, declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s.

It is unclear if brokers are involved. The retail investment firm recently secured a $55 million bond offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

In September 2014, West Side Rag reported rumors that Trader Joe’s was coming to the West 90s, but said the chances of it actually happening were very slim.

Trader Joe’s already has an Upper West Side location, at Broadway and West 72nd Street. The new location would be close to rival Whole Foods, which is at Columbus Avenue and West 97th Street.

Retail Asking Rents Along Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side are about $450 per square foot.

Trader Joe’s launched in New York City in 2006 with a store at 142 East 14th Street in Union Square. It also has stores at 675 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea,130 Court Street in Cobble Hill and 9030 Metropolitan Avenue in Rego Park. Last year, the company, which has more than 450 stores nationwide, signed 18,000-square-foot leases for two more Brooklyn stores — at 1 DeKalb Avenue in Williamsburg and the City Point megaproject in Downtown Brooklyn.