Harlem's Victoria 5 Theater Is Being Redeveloped
Most people have walked past this building and never knew what it was. Older Harlemites have a vivid memory of the Victoria 5 Theatre and the memories it played in there lives.
233 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevards – A couple doors east of the historic Apollo Theater, the 100-year-old into a 26-story building with a 200-key Marriott Renaissance Hotel, 191 rental apartments, cultural space and retail. Half of the units will rent for below-market rates, with 30 percent reserved for folks who make 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), and 20 percent for families who earn 80 percent of the AMI.
The $126 million complex will be split into two connected towers: one for the hotel, the other for the apartments. After sitting abandoned for 20 years, the facade and marquee of the Thomas Lamb-designed movie theater will be restored. The ground floor will likely become a jazz club and restaurant, according to owner Harlem Community Development Corporation, an arm of the Empire State Development Corporation. Roughly 30,000 square feet on the lower floors will be office space for local nonprofits, like Jazzmobile, Classical Theater in Harlem, Harlem Arts Alliance and Apollo Theatre Foundation. The development will also have two black box theaters, which will be convertible spaces that can host fundraisers and receptions. The back of the Victoria theater has already been demolished, and developers Exact Capital and Lam Group expect to hold a ground-breaking ceremony later this month. Work is supposed to wrap by the end of 2018.