Harbored in a townhouse near Columbus Circle since 1994, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute is moving to Harlem, The Observer has learned. In a deal that will allow the cultural nonprofit to expand to 8,500 square feet inside a landmark firehouse at 120 East 125th Street, the group intends to invest $3.5 million to refurbish the 19th-century building.
With those repairs under way, brokers at CB Richard Ellis, meanwhile, are marketing the group’s current building at 408 West 58th Street, a 4,000-square-foot townhouse with air rights that could command upward of $4 million, said Timothy Sheehan, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis.
“The East Harlem location is closer to their constituency and they see themselves as a big part of the cultural fabric of that neighborhood,” said Mr. Sheehan, who is marketing the group’s current building alongside Dan Kaplan, Ned Midgley and Robert Flippin.
jsederstrom@observer.com
