International Center of Photography Moving to Essex Crossing

Barely a year after relocating its flagship to 250 Bowery, New York’s International Center of Photography (ICP) has announced yet another move. In 2019, the museum will move to Essex Crossing, a new $1.5 billion dollar mixed-use development from SHoP Architects on the Lower East Side, which is expected to reach completion in 2024. There, the new ICP flagship will reunite with its school.

“We are thrilled to be reuniting the ICP Museum and the ICP School under one roof,” said Board President Jeffrey Rosen and Board Chair Caryl Englander in a statement. “This is something towards which we’ve been working for nearly twenty years. It’s gratifying to bring this exciting goal to fruition.”

In 2015, the institution was forced to move to its current location after its rent-free lease with the Durst Organization in Midtown expired. Traffic at the new location decreased from 160,000 to 100,000 in the first year, but steadily increased with each show, drawing a younger, more diverse crowd. Since the move, the school has remained in Midtown, across the street from the flagship’s previous location.

“The addition of the International Center of Photography is a key milestone in the development of Essex Crossing, which calls for space dedicated to community and cultural facilities separate from the commercial and retail tenants and housing expected to fill the project,” said Karen Scanna, part of the Stroock development team. “As one of New York’s premiere non-profit artistic, educational and cultural institutions, ICP is the perfect organization to fulfill that pledge. We are proud of the work Stroock continues to do on behalf of the development partners in bringing this historic project to fruition and ultimately to market. And we salute the City’s significant investment in drawing marquee cultural attractions such as the International Center of Photography.”

Essex Crossing will occupy 1.9 million square feet that has mostly remained vacant for 50 years, and it will include residential, commercial, and community spaces. The ICP will occupy a 40,000-square-foot building, four-stories and two more floors at the adjacent residential building.