Future Is Uncertain for Tribeca's Best Market in Independence Plaza

Best Market, at 316 Greenwich Street, took over the space that the Food Emporium had occupied for 32 years, before closing in November, 2015. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

The future is uncertain for Tribeca’s second largest supermarket.

The lease on Best Market, 316 Greenwich St., is set to expire next month. Located in Independence Plaza, it is one of only two stores along a stretch of otherwise empty storefronts in the Greenwich Street complex, between North Moore and Duane Streets. Negotiations on the renewal are ongoing, said Or Raitses, vice president of the family-owned supermarket chain.

“Nothing has been decided yet,” Raitses told the Trib in a brief phone interview. “We’re still negotiating with the landlord there.” He declined to speculate on whether those negotiations would be resolved favorably.

Spokespeople for Vornado Realty Trust, the majority owner of the complex, did not respond to requests for comment.

Asked how the store is doing, Reitses said “good,” noting what he said have been improvements and modification in some of the departments. “We’ve been happy with some of the customer reaction,” he said.

In November 2015, Best Market, now a chain of 30 stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, took over the lease from Tribeca’s struggling Food Emporium. The deal was one of Best Market’s seven acquisitions of former A&P-owned stories in Manhattan and Long Island