Marcus Garvey Village, a mixed-income, mixed-use affordable housing development slated to open in Harlem next year, will include an LGBTQ center.
Carthage Real Estate Advisors, a New York City housing developer, is building a 20,000-square-foot same-gender-loving LGBTQ Center on the complex’s ground level at 224 West 124 Street and Adam Clayton Boulevard in Manhattan.
The facility is slated to open in the fall of 2022 as part of an 18-story, 330-unit housing development. The center’s amenities will be made available to the public and include an office space, a library with LGBTQ history archives, a café and lounge, and a drop-in medical clinic.
The Black and Latino LGBTQ Coalition, a collective of local LGBTQ organizations, is planning the program’s rollout. Advocates said the center would act as a one-stop-shop for LGBTQ services, including everything from arts and entertainment classes to a food pantry. Additionally, the center is anticipated to provide trans and senior-specific services.
“We have been offered a wonderful opportunity to create a one-stop hub and resource center for the largest LGBTQ population in the city,” Carmen Neely, co-chair of the Black and Latino LGBTQ Coalition and co-founder and president of Harlem Pride, said in a statement to Gay City News. “Our goal is to provide a safe, culturally competent environment in which to offer programs and services that foster a sense of community for same gender loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer residents of the city, along with their family, friends, and allies.”
In 2017, housing developers bought the site from Abyssinian Baptist Church for $27 million. Since then, Carthage Real Estate Advisors have secured $2 million from the West Harlem Development Corporation and an $80 million construction loan.
“The LGBTQ community in Harlem is an integral part of our history in Harlem,” Edward Poteat, the founder of Carthage Real Estate Advisor, said in a statement. “We are developing a building that celebrates the richness of our culture. It’s our commitment to inclusiveness on myriad levels.”
Developers began building the project last November. Affordable housing units will be available to residents through the New York City housing lottery starting in early 2022.
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