Opus Dei Affiliate Pays $25 M. for Midtown Building

A group with ties to the enigmatic Catholic group Opus Dei, the Clover Foundation, has paid $25 million for a small building across from Carnegie Hall, public records show.

The seller of the building at 165 West 57th Street, Columbia Artists Management, first bought the site in 1972, according to property records, holding small classical music performances in the five-story building’s performance space.

The Clover Foundation, a charitable group that donates to organizations affiliated with Opus Dei, is planning to bring a yet-to-be-identified educational group to the building, according to a treasurer for the foundation, Bill Orchard.

“Part of what we’re envisioning is something that would provide executive education for people in the world of education and media,” Mr. Orchard told The Observer.

Opus Dei, which was cast as something of a mysterious cult in the pop novel The Da Vinci Code, made headlines in the late 1990’s when it began building a new headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue, taking a high profile for a relatively low-profile organization.