New York Construction Report staff writer
The People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante, a new 19,000-sq. ft. performing arts center has broken ground in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood.
The center, which will be located at 407 West 206th Street, will amplify the voices of New York City’s diverse immigrant communities and cultivate work by local artists and arts organizations.
“The People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante will be an exemplary space, developing and producing theater that is more equitable and representative of immigrants, Latine artists and our communities of color,” said Mino Lora, founding executive artistic director of the People’s Theatre Project. “For the last 15 years, we have been committed to uplifting the voices of marginalized communities, and The People’s Theatre will connect, inspire, and catalyze generations of immigrants and their allies.”
When the new center opens in 2026, it will feature a flexible midsize theater, a smaller performance space, rehearsal studios, a soundproof practice room, and gallery space. The People’s Theatre Project will also partner with the New York Public Library to provide research and literary programming that will allow community members to explore the immigrant experience through scholarship and the performing arts.
It is being developed by a joint venture of LMXD, MSquared, and Taconic Partners and designed by woman- and immigrant-owned architecture firm WORKac and theater and acoustics consultant Charcoalblue.
The $37-million center will be housed in a new mixed-income, mixed-use residential development at 405-407 West 206th Street with 698 units of housing, 281 of which will be affordable to residents earning at or below 80 percent of the area median income, that broke ground earlier this year. The Inwood development will also include sustainability features that advance the State’s climate goals like all-electric heating and cooling, offer free broadband internet to residents, and provide neighborhood amenities like a new grocery store and other neighborhood retail.
