Trader Joe’s will soon open a new grocery store in Harlem, the chain’s first location in Upper Manhattan. The store will occupy 28,000 square feet of ground-floor space of the forthcoming Urban League Empowerment Center at 121 West 125th Street.

Developers responsible for the new property include The Prusik Group, BRP Companies, L+M Development Partners, and Taconic Partners. When complete, the Urban League Empowerment Center will also house the new headquarters and conference center for the National Urban League, as well as the Urban Civil Rights Experience Museum, New York State’s first civil rights museum, and a new Target.

Additional components will include 170 units of supportive and affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers making 30 to 80 percent of Area Median Income.

“This continues to be a dream project for our development team,” said S. Andrew Katz, principal of The Prusik Group. “We are beyond thrilled to bring the National Urban League back to Harlem, open the first civil rights museum in the state, and now, one of most beloved grocery stores in the country alongside it. We’re looking forward to welcoming the community to what will be a cultural and commercial hub for Harlem in 2023.”

Designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, the entire structure will comprise 414,000 square feet and top out at 17 stories. As revealed by YIMBY in August, renderings of the project depict a six-story podium with floor-to-ceiling windows and a punched-in balcony outlined in darker glass along West 125th Street. Above the podium levels, the residential tower is set back from the West 125th Street elevation and overlooks what will likely be private recreational area for building tenants.

Today, One Essex Crossing is officially launching sales, and YIMBY has an exclusive reveal of a slew of renderings for the project, for which occupancy is anticipated later this year. Located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the 14-story full-block development is designed by CetraRuddy and developed by Delancey Street Associates, which is comprised of BFC Partners, L+M Development Partners, Taconic Partners, the Prusik Group, and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. The site is bounded by Delancey Street to the north, Suffolk Street to the east, Broome Street to the south, and Norfolk Street to the west, and is one of several addresses in the Essex Crossing master plan that’s spread across six acres and a total of nine buildings. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group is handling sales for One Essex Crossing with prices ranging from $890,000 for a studio, to $6,689,000 for a duplex penthouse.

Inside One Essex Crossing, residents enter the building through a glass-enclosed bridge that features direct sight-lines to the historic Essex Market and new Market Line retail below. Residents can enjoy the 9,000-square-foot landscaped garden with an outside fitness area on the sixth floor, atop the south-facing podium setback. There are two additional glass-enclosed “amenity peninsulas” that overlook the gardens, a separate yoga room, a residents’ lounge dubbed “The Sun Room,” and a children’s playroom. Also within are 175,000 square feet of Class A office space, with ceilings as high as 13 feet.

Thirty percent of all residences come with their own private outdoor space, and range in size from 518 square-foot studios to 2,187 square-foot three bedrooms, along with a variety of penthouses. Homes are designed with wide-plank European White Oak flooring throughout, custom kitchens with storage and display shelving, tabac oak and taupe glossy lacquer cabinetry with polished nickel fittings, honed Dolomiti marble countertops and backsplashes, and Miele appliances. Calacatta Lincoln marble lines the master bathrooms’ walls and countertops, accented by polished nickel fixtures and fittings, and secondary baths feature Bianco Carrera marble tile floors and walls.

“We were inspired by the artistic attitude of the Lower East Side, from its architecture to its restaurants. We worked to create a backdrop to what was happening on the streets below and to pay homage to the ornate metalwork and materiality that help define many of the classic buildings in the neighborhood. Through the three-dimensional layering of brick, terracotta, and glass, we were able to weave texture into a facade that harmonizes beautifully with the rest of the neighborhood,” explained Nancy Ruddy, Founding Principal of CetraRuddy.

“One Essex Crossing’s connection to The Market Line, visible through the glass, soundproof bridge in the residential entry, is one of the most exciting aspects of the building. The dynamic and functional experience that the building affords residents has truly elevated the concept of vertical living in New York City,” added Colleen Wenke, Chief Development Officer for Taconic Partners, who is leading the development of One Essex Crossing.

The closest subways are the J, F, M, and Z trains at the Delancey Street/Essex Street subway station, while pedestrian and bicycle paths for the Williamsburg Bridge are found along Delancey Street.

The entire Essex Crossing complex is largely complete, and is expected to cost $1.9 billion and bring more than 1,000 new homes to the Lower East Side, as well as new urban green space, over 350,000 square feet of Class A office space, and 300,000 square feet of retail.