MCC Theater Breaks Ground on Its First Permanent Off-Broadway Home

MCC Theater officially broke ground on the site of its first permanent home on Tuesday, March 22.

The venue, set to open in 2018, will occupy the ground floor of the Avalon Clinton complex (West 52nd Street at 10th Avenue), which also includes residential units, as well as office and performance spaces for A.R.T./New York and the 52nd Street Project.

Designed by architect Andrew Berman, the 27,000-square-foot facility will feature two state-of-the-art theaters, with 249 and 99 seats, respectively, designed to accommodate both traditional and nontraditional stagings. Spaces for rehearsals, workshops, meetings, public conversations, and other events will be integrated into the building and connected to one another — and to the performance spaces — by a central staircase. A public lobby will connect the outside courtyard space on West 52nd Street and the facility’s interior.

As a hub for all of MCC’s programming, the new space will allow the organization to broaden its offerings — increasing its productions from four to six per season. The $35 million project is funded by a public-private partnership between the Theater and the City of New York, which has contributed $25.5 million to the project. The campaign has raised $29.9 million to date.