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Read the press release here.

Whitney Museum Sells Upper East Side Brownstones for $100M

By Ben Fractenberg | October 15, 2010 12:27pm
An artist's rendition for the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District.
An artist's rendition for the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District.
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Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Cooper, Robertson & Partners

By Ben Fractenberg

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER EAST SIDE — The Whitney Museum sold six brownstones next to its Upper East Site home in an effort to help move its location to the Meatpacking District, the New York Times reported Friday.

"This is a major step toward the realization of a long-sought-after new facility that will better serve our artists and the community," the Whitney’s director Adam D. Weinberg told the Times.

The Whitney, located on Madison Avenue between 74th and 75th Streets, is reportedly getting around $100 million from the sale.

The museum is planning to build a new six-story facility — slated for completion in 2015 — at the entrance to the High Line Park, just north of Gansevoort Street.

Weinberg told the Times the museum has raised $475 million of its $680 million goal.

While the new facility is being built, the museum is still trying to figure out what to do with its current space. It is reportedly not allowed to sell the building after taking a $131 million donation in 2008 stipulating it keep the location for the foreseeable future.

One solution may involve forming a partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which could store at least part of its permanent collection at the Whitney’s current space while completing renovations at its Fifth Avenue location.