Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that the city would give $25 million toward the $60-million construction cost of a new Signature Theater on West 42nd Street that will be designed by Frank O. Gehry, the architect of the famous Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
The theater is presently located at 555 West 42nd Street.
Its new location is expected to open in 2012 in the 8-story base of a 59-story residential tower being developed by The Related Companies and designed by Arquitectonica, which designed the Westin Hotel on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.
The Related project, which will occupy the entire block bounded by Tenth and Dyer Avenues and 41st and 42nd Streets, is expected to be completed in 2011 and to be LEED-Silver rated, a measure of environmental "friendliness." It is expected to have around 800 units of which about 160 will be "affordable."
Signature, whose playwright-in-residence is Tony Kushner, originally planned to move to a new home designed by Mr. Gehry at Ground Zero.
The new Signature facility at 480 West 42nd Street will have three theaters, rehearsal studios, a caf¿, a bookstore and administrative offices.
At one point, Related hoped its developer could accommodate a major facility for the Cirque du Soleil troupe.
The theater is presently located at 555 West 42nd Street.
Its new location is expected to open in 2012 in the 8-story base of a 59-story residential tower being developed by The Related Companies and designed by Arquitectonica, which designed the Westin Hotel on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.
The Related project, which will occupy the entire block bounded by Tenth and Dyer Avenues and 41st and 42nd Streets, is expected to be completed in 2011 and to be LEED-Silver rated, a measure of environmental "friendliness." It is expected to have around 800 units of which about 160 will be "affordable."
Signature, whose playwright-in-residence is Tony Kushner, originally planned to move to a new home designed by Mr. Gehry at Ground Zero.
The new Signature facility at 480 West 42nd Street will have three theaters, rehearsal studios, a caf¿, a bookstore and administrative offices.
At one point, Related hoped its developer could accommodate a major facility for the Cirque du Soleil troupe.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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