The International Center of Photography, one of New York’s leading cultural institutions, announces this week that it has signed on to become the cultural anchor of an ambitious new mixed-use development underway called Essex Crossing.

Stroock represents the development group behind Essex Crossing, called Delancey Street Associates and comprised of three major New York real estate developers – Taconic Investment Partners, BFC Partners and L+M Development Partners. The projected development costs are around $1.5 billion.

An important component of the project was a set-aside for a large portion of space dedicated to cultural and community usage, which makes the addition of ICP to Essex Crossing a key milestone. In announcing its plans, ICP said it will combine its museum and school into one facility housed on Ludlow Street. The ICP Museum expects to relocate in early 2019, followed by the School, which serves more than 3,500 students annually. The new site will be designed by leading architectural firm Gensler.

ICP’s new space will house the Center’s popular museum, school and other facilities.

Essex Crossing covers nine separate LES sites spanning six acres that had been largely vacant for 50 years. Upon completion, it will bring nearly two million square feet of residential, commercial-retail and community space to the Lower East Side, including some 1,000 new affordable housing units.

Stroock’s Essex Crossing team is led by real estate partners Karen Scanna and Ross Moskowitz, who have collaborated on numerous high-profile projects involving partnerships with New York City and leading developers. Partner Marc Hurel and associate Elizabeth Akerman are also part of the Stroock team that helped ink the ICP deal.

“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,” Ms. Scanna said.

“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.”

Stroock’s 85-member national real estate practice, led by Jeff Keitelman and Brian Diamond, has advised on structuring and financing transactions that have reshaped the nation’s metropolitan areas. Among recent client matters bearing Stroock’s national fingerprints are 10 Hudson Yards, one of the largest real estate transactions in NYC; the redevelopment of the former Washington Post site, in the center of the nation’s capital; 1285 Avenue of the Americas, one of the largest real estate transactions in the U.S.; South Florida Logistics Center, one of the area’s largest industrial deals in South Florida; and Kips Bay Court, one of the largest NYC multifamily transactions.

Stroock provides strategic transactional, regulatory and litigation advice to advance the business objectives of leading financial institutions, multinational corporations and entrepreneurial businesses in the U.S. and globally.  With a rich history dating back 140 years, the firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, DC.