Future of Off-Broadway's Union Square Theater Unclear as Renovations Move Forward

With planned renovations moving forward, the fate of Off-Broadway's Union Square Theater, currently home to 39 STEPS, remains up in the air.

According to The Real Deal, the venue's owner, Reading International, intends to redevelop, constructing a large dome on top of the building, and convert retail space into office space. The building would be rebranded as 44 Union Square, while aiming to lease space to "creative-type office tenants." Buzzfeed currently rents space at the nearby 225 Park Avenue South building for its main office.

With construction expected to begin in early 2016, how and if Union Square Theater will remain is unclear at this time. The fate of The New York Film Academy, which rents 13,000 square feet of the building, according to the report, has also not been decided.

The building was originally constructed as the headquarters for Tammany Hall, the one-time Democratic Party politial machine, in 1929.

"The building's presence across Union Square is remarkably unique," leasing agent Justin DiMare of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, told the real estate publication. "Tammany Hall has been part of the City's cultural fabric for a century. Its commercial redevelopment will be iconic and will provide one or more users a very special and distinctive setting."

Reading International also owns New York's Orpheum Theatre, home of the long-running show STOMP, and Minetta Lane Theatre, as well as the Royal George Theatre in Chicago.

BroadwayWorld will keep you updated as Reading continues on with its redevelopment plans in the next year, and the future of the Off-Broadway venue grows clear.

Click here for The Real Deal's initial report.