This chapter addresses university driven urban redevelopment and gentrification, using Columbia University, in West Harlem as a case study. Specifically, we examine Columbia’s recent planned development in the West Harlem neighborhood of Manhattanville, a low-income working-class neighborhood of color. Recent attention has focused on university expansion as a type of urban redevelopment and its resultant neighborhood gentrification for multiple reasons. First, the fact that American’s colleges and universities are tax exempt, while being major landowners, in their host cities, has caused tremendous scrutiny, when municipal budgets are stretched to cover basic services for the entire city populace. Next, the evolving role of universities as for-profit corporate entities challenges their role as learning institutions, solely concerned with the “public good.” Further, the fact that major wealthy research institutions cater to a highly selective population, while, at the same time, pushing their institutional competitive edge for larger facilities and space into neighboring working-class communities, has intensified town-gown relationships. In the US context, we are reminded of the historical legacy of slavery, race, and class distinctions which have impacted the power imbalance between Columbia University, backed by special interests, and her Harlem neighborhoods, for generations. This chapter provides geographical context of the unique nature of Harlem, the emerging role of powerful research universities, Columbia University’s planned development and, the intended and unintended consequences for a rapidly changing Harlem community, through urban redevelopment and gentrification.