Hundreds of millions of dollars and four years later, the National Urban League has opened a new 17-story mixed-use building in Harlem that is part housing, part retail, and part community center.

Elected leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and City Councilman Yusef Salaam all spoke at a ribbon-cutting event Wednesday to celebrate the new building. Hochul supported the $242 million project by allocating more than $20 million in funding through Empire State Development, her office said.

• Watch: National Urban League's headquarters in Harlem officially open to the public

Under construction since 2021, the finished building at 117 W. 125th St. features shops like Sephora that are already open for business. It will also act as the NUL's home base and "community empowerment center," where Harlemites can get one-on-one support navigating things like voting, home ownership, and employment. 

Community members were able to tour the center at the opening ceremony, and observed new office space, an auditorium, and conference rooms that local organizations can rent.

The NUL, which has advocated for economic access and racial justice since 1910, hopes to play a particular role in keeping Harlemites in Harlem, which neighbors say is a constant concern. It is offering around 170 units of affordable housing with rent ranging from $666 for a studio to $1,478 for a two-bedroom, depending on income.

The fourth floor of the West 125th Street building will house the Urban Civil Rights Museum, which NUL leaders say will open next year.

"Our museum is going to be a learning facility, not just a set of exhibits, but also a place where we're going to continue to tell stories or workshops, symposiums, seminars." said NUL President Marc H. Morial, who was the mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002.

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