Observer » Victoria Theater

Harlem Heights: Two 26-Story Towers Shuffling Onto 125th Street Above Victoria Theater

Matt Chaban — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:55:18 -0400

It's the biggest show on the block since James Brown played The Apollo.

At the end of August, Danforth Development announced that it had found a partner to move forward with its plans to develop two 26-story towers above the century-old Victoria Theater. The project has been in the works for years now, a pet project of local politician Keith Wright. A new hotel and apartment building are meant to sustain a clutch of cultural institutions on the first few buildings of the complex, and things were well underway until the recession hit.

Now, Exact Capital is pitching in $100 million to get the project off the ground. Way off the ground.

Designed by Ariel Aufgang of Augang + Subotovsky, the project features a glassy hotel along 125th Street and a brick apartment building behind, forming an L-shaped complex between Harlem's main street and 126th Street. The former features 210 rooms, the latter 230 apartments. When first approved by the state, the project was was going to have the first new hotel in the neighborhood in decades, but in the meantime, the Aloft Harlem around the corner on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 123rd Street opened.

The architects have shared their vision for the project with The Observer, including renderings of the classy-looking entrances on 126th Street—the facade of the old Victoria Theater, once a Vaudeville stage, and some of its interior spaces will be preserved as part of the project. Among the cultural tenants will be two theaters and the Classical Theater of Harlem, JazzMobile, the Apollo Theater Foundation and the Harlem Arts Alliance occupying 25,000-square-feet of space.

The project may seem big for Harlem, but 125th Street has seen its fair share of tall towers over the years. Across the street is the historic 15-story Hotel Theresa and further down 125th Street is the Adam Clayton Powell Federal Building. A rezoning a few years ago paved the way for bigger buildings on the strip, as well, and another long-stalled development at Park Avenue, where Major League Baseball once considered moving in, is still on the boards.

Developer Would Cut Historic Victoria Theater In Half

Chris Shott — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:14:19 -0400

AM New York today examines the controversy surrounding Harlem's shuttered Victoria Theater:

Local developer Steve Williams of Danforth Development Partners, LLC, wants to transform the 1917 burlesque theater into a 30-story condo/hotel, cutting up the ornate 2, 400-seat theater into two mini-theaters while preserving the facade and parts of the lobby.

Neighborhood activists argue that the Thomas Lamb-designer theater shoud be restored to its original grandeur.

But others contend that such a large performance hall doesn't make sense, especially one right down the street from the famous Apollo:

"It's the white elephant that no one can afford to rent, because it's too damn big," said Curtis Archer, president of the Harlem Community Development Corp.

Mr. Williams is aiming to reopen the Victoria by 2011.

Keith Wright Gets His Way on Harlem's Victoria Theater

Matthew Schuerman — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:08:59 -0400

The fight for Harlem’s Victoria Theater began back in December of 2005, when 11 developers submitted bids to convert the shuttered vaudeville house into a mixed-use cultural building. The board of the Harlem Community Development Corporation, which was chaired at the time by Democratic Assemblyman Keith Wright, narrowed the choices down to two firms.

But, according to The New York Times, the Pataki administration resisted, favoring another developer, Apollo Real Estate Advisers, which offered more money for the development rights and also happened to have strong ties to the Republican governor.

Mr. Wright lost his chairmanship a little while later—because of the dispute, according to an aide--but he ended up getting his way today. The Empire State Development Corporation, now controlled by appointees of the Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer, announced that one of the two firms selected by the Harlem Community Development Corporation, Danforth Development Partners LLC, had won the conditional right to redevelop the 1917 theater on 125^th Street into a complex containing a hotel, 91 condominiums, and space for four arts organizations: the Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Harlem Arts Alliance, the Jazz Museum of Harlem, and the Apollo Theater Foundation. (The complex will, at 317,570 square feet, require a pretty large tower on top of the current building.)

The total development will cost $145 million, with about $25 million going to the state, according to Danforth’s president M. Steven C. Williams, a third-generation Harlem resident who had been a partner in the redevelopment of 55 West 125^th Street, the office tower that now houses former President Bill Clinton’s office.

“There were a number of iterations, reviews, and questions. I do think there was also an impetus that somebody from the local community would be the developer because they would be more likely to keep the legacy of the community in making sure that these indigenous cultural entities had the chance to be incubated here,” Mr. Williams said. “I’m very excited. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to what the project is going to do for 125^th Street.”