Whitney Townhouses Off the Market?

Published: February 23, 2009

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NEW YORK—Last summer the Whitney Museum of American Art announced that it was putting up for sale four brownstones neighboring its Madison Avenue home. Now the Art Newspaper is reporting via undisclosed sources that the townhouses have failed to sell and have been withdrawn from the market.

The museum had hoped to raise $60 million from the sale, which was being transacted through commercial realtor CB Richard Ellis Group. The money would have been used to help fund the museum's Renzo Piano–designed satellite in the Meatpacking district, the cost of which has been estimated at $435 million.

Public approvals have been secured for the downtown facility, but the museum has yet to fully acquire the city-owned property at Gansevoort and Washington Streets. The site is adjacent to the southern entrance to the in-progress High Line park.

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A spokeswoman for the Department of Cultural Affairs said that $55 million has been set aside in the city's 10-year capital plan for the Whitney expansion, including $3.5 million in this financial year.

A spokesman for the Whitney denied that the townhouses are no longer up for sale. A spokesman for Richard Ellis declined to comment.

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