Legendary NYC Jazz Club Hits The Market For $20M

HARLEM, NY — The longtime home of the Cotton Club — the third iteration of the legendary jazz club — is officially for sale to the tune of $20,000,000, marking the end of a complicated era on West 125th Street.

In its heyday, the jazz club's stage was frequented by famous performers like Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, but these days, the vacant triangle-shaped building sits quietly on 125th Street below the Riverside Drive viaduct, on a lot which spans roughly 12,600 square feet.

The empty jazz bar is the third and final iteration of the nightclub, which closed for good in 2024 after more than four decades in the building, Tay Tiwoni the real estate agent who has the listing on Serhant, told Patch.

A Discriminatory Past

The original Cotton Club rose to fame in the 1920s further north, at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue as a segregated venue that only allowed white guests in to see mostly Black jazz performers, Tiwoni said.

That first version was initially called Club Deluxe and owned by a famous boxer named Jack Johnson, but a gangster named Owen Vincent "Owney" Madden took over the spot and renamed it as the Cotton Club, cementing it as one of the Prohibition era’s most famous nightspots, Tiwoni said.

Despite of the fact that it was run by mobsters and marked by discriminatory admission practices, the Cotton Club helped launch the careers of some of America’s greatest performers, including Ellington, Calloway, Lena Horne and others who would go on to shape jazz and popular music.

Ellington's band became the house band at the club in 1927, where he shaped his iconic big band sound.

"Obviously the segregation was negative, but this is the reality of how things transpired back then," Tiwoni said.

Opposition to the club's segregation grew, and ultimately, the first location of the club closed because of a riot against its racist practices, Tiwoni said.

Next, the club relocated to 48th Street and Broadway in 1936 in attempt to start fresh, before closing again in the 1940s amid tax-evasion charges.

In 1978, new owners opened a Cotton Club in Harlem as a modern homage to the greats of the jazz-age, and this time, the club embraced diversity.

"Music always brings all nationalities together," Tiwoni said.

An Optimistic Future

Though not a protected city landmark, it's a cultural landmark for many New Yorkers, Tiwoni said.

"It’s not just another building — it’s a piece of history," the Harlem resident said.

The sellers are not selling the name of the club along with the building, in hopes that whatever comes next will start a new chapter for the neighborhood, Tiwoni said.

"Harlem is experiencing a revitalization, and we see a unique opportunity for new owners to develop it in a way that fits the neighborhood’s future," Tiwoni said. "There’s a lot of renewed interest in the area."

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