Italian American Museum asks $13M — as long as it stays

The Italian American Museum hit the market for $13 million, DNAinfo reported, but with one major caveat: the institution can stay put.

The trio of three-story buildings at 185-189 Grand Street in Little Italy also contains residential units and a storefront, in addition to the museum. Joseph Scelsa, the president and director of the museum, hopes to use the money from the sale to update the museum with audio and visual exhibits. Zoning allows for the structures on the parcels up for sale to be about twice as large as they stand now, DNAinfo said.

Officials at the museum were in talks with a developer in April, but it appears that sale fell through. Scelsa said at the time he wanted the museum to occupy a bigger space, rent-free, inside the redeveloped structure.

The new development on the site could total more than 22,000 square feet — more than double the existing 10,000 square feet that the three buildings now occupy, Massey Knakal Realty Services told DNAinfo. Massey Knakal is handling sales for the building. [DNAinfo] – Mark Maurer