Levain Bakery is thinking big, and not just with their famous six-ounce cookies.
The Upper West Side cookie shop began construction last week on its new Harlem location on Frederick Douglass Blvd. between 116th and 117th streets.
Although the store’s expansion has been underway since November 2009, its permit application was only approved this past September. Niko’s Construction, the company undertaking the renovation, said the project is on schedule and should be finished the first or second week of November.
The expansion, the owners say, began as a necessity: Levain, which currently has a location on 74th Street and another in the Hamptons, needed space for its growing mail order service and business offices.
“That we are able to have retail area as well is just an added bonus,” co-owner Pam Weekes said, adding that she expects to open the doors in December.
“It was enough affordable space for our needs in a great location,” she added.
Though doubling as a production office, the bakery will still retain the Levain Bakery signature. “It will be along the same lines [as our other locations],” Weekes said. “Delicious, happy, fun, outgoing.”
With prices ranging from $1 to $7, Weekes said Levain is bringing its bargain uptown.
“They work out to be $10.67 per pound for a fresh cookie made with excellent ingredients and no preservatives. Many bakery cookies start at $18 per pound and … are not even baked freshly that day,” she said.
She added, “We don’t think that any cookies are a basic necessity in life.”
Beyond supplying Morningside Heights and Harlem residents with award-winning confections, the Levain crew intends to continue its philanthropy tradition. “We have always donated any leftover products at the end of every day to charity and plan to continue this there [in Harlem],” Weekes said.
Neighboring businesses in Harlem said they only became aware of the move when notices appeared in the vacant windows of the former Tribal Spears Gallery and Café.
“We know it’s going to be a bakery, but that’s about it,” said Jean Milinette, an employee at nearby clothing store Bébénoir.
For some nearby residents, a cookie establishment is a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
“It’s great. I have two kids … and they’ll be very excited to try out the new bakery,” Harlem resident Joan Greco said.
The arrival of Levain is part of a larger change, as new businesses continue to move into vacant spaces in the surrounding area.
“Having new companies come here is an opportunity to have cross-cultural exchange,” said Joe Upham, a technician at the neighboring store Focus Lighting. He added, “It brings up property values and brings in business for all of the small shops here.”
Greco said the influx of new merchants seems very rapid: “It feels like every day there’s some cool, new restaurant opening, store opening, or new construction.”
For some, though, the biggest draw is the tasty treats.
Izzy Wiggans, CC ’14 and an Upper West Side native, said, “Levain cookies are, hands down, my favorite in the city.”
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