An Arts Hub and Affordable Housing Under One Roof in Inwood

New York Times

12-05-2025

As a graduate student in Connecticut, Mino Lora wrote her thesis on creating and producing a free, accessible theater in Upper Manhattan for and about immigrants. Nearly two decades later, the People's Theatre, which she envisioned and co-founded in 2009, will open its first permanent home in an unexpected site: a new apartment building in Inwood.
The Miramar, at West 206th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues, is a mixed-income, mixed-use rental building nestled near the Harlem River in a largely immigrant neighborhood. The building, which is nearing completion and recently started leasing, is part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's $25 billion plan to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes across New York State. The multidisciplinary performing arts center is slated to open there in July 2026.
The Miramar takes its name from the outdoor saltwater swimming complex that occupied the site from 1926 until it closed in 1969 and was replaced by a supermarket. The developers hope it will be a good neighbor through its design, its partnership with cultural organizations and its and mixed-income model.
In 2018, a rezoning plan was approved in Inwood that would largely reshape the industrial area east of 10th Avenue as part of the city's effort to create and preserve affordable housing units. Some residents opposed the plan, worried it would change the character and identity of the predominately Dominican community.
'Neighborhoods with such strong community and history are very suspicious about what's to come and how the dynamic of the neighborhood would change,' said Colleen Wenke, the president and chief operating officer at Taconic Partners, which codeveloped the Miramar with a women-led development team in partnership with LMXD and MSquared.
The Miramar comprises two connected buildings, and the entire complex extends nearly a block. The facade uses three different colors of brick to make the site feel less overwhelming, said Cassie Walker, a partner at Beyer Blinder Belle, which oversaw the architecture.
The highest part of the complex reaches 17 stories, cascading downward in other parts to allow for more sunlight. Along with landscaped terraces, the Miramar will have two courtyard gardens and a roof deck with grilling stations and views of the Harlem River, a train yard, and even Billionaire's Row south of Central Park.
The amenities, available to all residents, will include a lounge that's accessible to all points of the building as well as a billiards room, a fitness center and a karaoke lounge. At the base, there is retail space for six to nine stores, depending on how they're subdivided.
Ms. Lora described the building's Public Theatre space, which cost $35 million to build and will span nearly 20,000 feet, as a 'civic, cultural, multigenerational center.'
The 'flexible theater space' will have five to six different configurations that will seat between 99 and 208 guests, Ms. Lora said, meaning it can adapt to live music, dance, film and theater performances. The cultural center, which will be called the People's Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante, will also house an art gallery and a rehearsal space for musicians.
The city invested $15 million to help the People's Theatre acquire the cultural center. The nonprofit also received state funding and private donations, including $1 million from the family of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the songwriter, actor, director and producer.
'The notion of Mino Lora being able to have an uptown theater in Uptown Manhattan, where she's made incredible work with her team, was really very exciting for us,' said Mr. Miranda, who grew up in Inwood.
He added, 'To see artists who grew up uptown like myself and who have stayed uptown and are continuing to make art up here is incredibly gratifying.'
In a neighborhood like Inwood with deep cultural ties, the approach to a new development like the Miramar is to 'bring in new folks, but also respect what's there,' said Alicia Glen, the founder and managing principal of MSquared, who served as New York City deputy mayor for housing and economic development from 2014 to 2019.
'It wasn't to do the minimum amount of affordable housing,' she said. 'It was to do more than we needed to do.'
Among the 698 units, which range from studios to three-bedrooms, 281 are available through the housing lottery for those making 40, 60 or 80 percent of the area median income. (The lottery closes June 2). Another 10 percent are work force housing units, or moderate income, at 120 percent of the area median income. The remaining 50 percent are market rate, with studios and one-bedrooms starting at $3,100, two-bedrooms at $3,900 and three-bedrooms at $5,700. Corcoran is handling the leasing. The first residents are slated to arrive in June.
'This is going to create good for so many,' said Ms. Lora. 'And especially in the midst of the neighborhood changing, having our Black and brown bodies and our young people performing and speaking in different languages, I think, is essential to preserving the colors of our community.'