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The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal is girding for a fight with its landlord.
The beautiful antique bar tucked away in a corner of the bustling terminal is facing possible eviction after a 17-year run and $1.5 million investment in restoring the space to its former glory, The Post has learned.
As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority orchestrates the most significant makeover of the terminal since its renovation two decades ago, long-time tenants are getting booted as their leases come up, including 1950s-style bakery Junior’s and pizzeria Two Boots.
The MTA is leaning towards another tenant for the 3,500-square-foot space. Negotiations continue but an MTA spokesman said “another tenant is likely,” one that offered to pay the highest rent.
“I don’t know who this other person is and why they would prefer them,” said Mark Grossich, the owner of the posh lounge. “I’m disappointed to hear that they are considering a change.”
But the Campbell Apartment has some influential supporters. Those include Grand Central Partnership’s chief executive, Alfred Cerullo, who wrote a letter last month to MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast in support of Grossich.
“Simply put,” he wrote, “Grand Central doe not need a nightclub that will be inconsistent with the type of operation that has been in existence for the past fifteen years.”
State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) also fired off a letter of support to Prendergast, said Grossich.
The MTA does not want to alter the name of the venue — once the elaborate office of financier John W. Campbell — for which it owns the trademark, and it wants to maintain the improvements the current owner made to the space, according to Grossich.
The executive, who owns a number of upscale bars in the city, said he offered to increase his rent by 100 percent.
Meanwhile, MTA officials have suggested he throw his hat in the ring for another space that is opening up in the terminal, but Grossich does not know yet the location of the space.
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