A drove of hip hop legends that included Nas, Fat Joe, and Grandmaster Flash came out last Thursday to celebrate the official groundbreaking and launch of a $100 million capital campaign for the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. The new museum will be the cultural anchor of Bronx Point, a $349 million, 530,000-square-foot mixed-use development located along the waterfront in the South Bronx.

Bronx Point was first announced in 2016 and is the product of hundreds of hours of community engagement. It has been designed to offer a generous number of permanently affordable units (estimated 540 out of 1,045 apartments reserved for those earning 30 to 120 percent AMI, and the formerly homeless ), new educational and community centers, 12,000 square feet of retail, and 2.8 acres of public open space along with the museum. 

S9 Architecture

S9 Architecture

The Universal Hip Hop Museum itself will celebrate the Bronx as the birthplace of hip hop and the genre's evolution through history using artifacts, multimedia, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented technologies. In 2019, as part of its AI for Cultural Heritage Program, Microsoft gifted the institution $5 million to develop its own virtual reality theater.

S9 Architecture

S9 Architecture and Engineering is the architect behind the museum, while Marvel and Abel Bainnson Butz are overseeing the design of development's larger public spaces. By 2024, locals and visitors will see the existing waterfront transformed with a new esplanade, fitness parks, open lawns, a waterfront outlook, and a playground.

Bronx Point

Bronx Point is being developed under a public-private partnership between L+M Development Partners, Type A Projects, and BronxWorks. The project's public funding comes from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Housing Development Corporation, NYCEDC, and Empire State Development. Broken down, about $323 million will go to the construction building and $27 million to the waterfront improvements.