Business-Space Demand Outpaces Supply

It takes just a single step away from Columbia's gates to notice that the University is located in a neighborhood as oriented to business as it is to education.

The Morningside Heights neighborhood offers businesses the rare opportunity of access to both a student market, among the largest consumers in the nation, and a residential market, creating a large demand for commercial real estate in the area.

But with real estate space limited, Columbia, which owns much of the property in Morningside Heights, has been forced to be selective in choosing businesses to which to offer space.

"There are many needs the Morningside community could support. The question really is: do we have the space to accommodate the type of operator that can be successful in this neighborhood? In many cases we do not," said George Giaquinto, Jr., director of commercial leasing and development.

However, that does not decrease the number of calls the school gets from businesses eager to move into this consumer-heavy neighborhood.

When a location does become available, Giaquinto said, Columbia "looks to fill the space with a similar but hopefully better operation or add a new concept, depending on the needs of the community."

Stores are attracted to Morningside Heights for different reasons, Giaquinto said. "Many operators recognize Morningside Heights as a distinct residential neighborhood requiring a full complement of neighborhood services… Other operators believe the neighborhood to be solely an undergraduate college area and are focused on providing their services to that particular market."

Because businesses may be confused as to who their customers in Morningside Heights will be, Giaquinto said Columbia has had to educate businesses about the composition of Morningside Heights.

"We spend a significant amount of time educating potential operators on the composition and demographics of the neighborhood. This has helped us attract operators that normally would not consider a location in Morningside Heights," Giaquinto said.

Due to Morningside Heights' large residential population, there is a significant demand for food, making it a prime location for restaurants and grocery stores.

"Food operators like restaurants and delis represent the largest percentage of calls [Columbia] receives," Giaquinto said.

The next largest percentage of calls "come from typical neighborhood service stores like dry cleaners, pharmacies, photo-processing, greeting cards, and other such shops," Giaquinto said.

However, Morningside Heights is not the ideal location for all establishments.

"Any operator that needs a large amount of space and a high volume of traffic to succeed economically is difficult to attract to the neighborhood," Giaquinto said.

However, "the overwhelming majority of stores in this neighborhood are successful," Giaquinto added.

Business is very good at the neighborhood's newest acquisition, Milano Market, said Salvador Galofare, one of the market's managers.

Galofare attributed Milano's initial success to its attraction "of a pretty even mix of students and other neighborhood residents."

Law student Iris Chen explained that part of Milano's appeal was its convenient location.

"Milano is so close by, and it's really nice. Also, its prices are decent, pretty comparable to the other grocery stores in the area," Chen said.

Students also said that they appreciated being able to frequent Tealuxe and Milano as alternatives to establishments such as Starbucks and University Food Market.

"I go to Tealuxe all the time. It's a great place to study, and I like its atmosphere and selection much more than Starbucks'," Meredith Collins, BC '04, said.

As for future additions to the neighborhood, students have their own opinions on what stores would be useful in Morningside Heights.

"I think this neighborhood could really use a good music store like Tower or Virgin. We have to go downtown just to get a CD," Ariana Lorenzana, BC '04, said.

Lorenzana may soon have her wish with the opening of Kim's Music and Video. The store is slated to open as early as April on the lobby level of Broadway Residence Hall.