20 Times Square

20 Times Square is a large mixed-use 39-story development located at 701 Seventh Avenue on the northeast corner of West 47th Street in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City, at the northern end of the "bow-tie"-shaped Times Square.[1] The development includes one of Ian Schrager's new Edition Hotels operated by Marriott above a 6-floor 76,000 square feet (7,100 m2) retail component.[2] It opened in February 2019.

20 Times Square
701 Seventh Avenue
20 Times Square under construction in February 2017
General information
StatusComplete
TypeHotel and Retail
Location701 Seventh Avenue, New York City, U.S.
Coordinates40.759305°N 73.984163°W / 40.759305; -73.984163
Construction started2013
CompletedFebruary 2019
Owner701 Seventh Property Owner LLC
Technical details
Floor count39 plus mezzanine
Design and construction
ArchitectPlatt Byard Dovell White Architects
DeveloperThe Witkoff Group and Maefield Development
EngineerSeverud Associates
Main contractorCNY Group

The building replaces the 1910 structure originally known as the Columbia Amusement Company Building, which had been home to a movie theater known variously as the Mayfair Theatre, the DeMille Theatre, and the Embassy 2-3-4 Theatre. On the upper floors, the Columbia Amusement Company Building had housed the famous Unique Recording Studios, which closed in 2004.[3]

History

Between 2000 and 2011, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) worked with Vornado Realty Trust, who had partnered with the Lawrence Ruben Company.[4] In November 2007, the PANYNJ announced the terms of an agreement in which it would receive nearly $500 million in a lease arrangement for a new office tower above the Port Authority Bus Terminal that would also provide funds for additional terminal facilities.[5] It would include 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of commercial space in a new office tower, which was to use the vanity address 20 Times Square, the addition of 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of new retail space in the bus terminal, as well as 18 additional departure gates, accommodating 70 additional buses carrying up to 3,000 passengers per hour. New escalators would be installed to help move passengers more quickly between the gate area and the ground floor. Construction was expected to begin in 2009 or 2010 and take four years to complete.[6][7]

Following in the tradition of Times Square, and the zoning ordinances requirement for building owners to display illuminated signs, the development features a very large wraparound high definition LED screen, known as a Jumbotron. The screen is one of the largest video-capable screens in the world.[8] It features 16 million LED diodes (pixels) measuring only 10mm, providing 18,000 square feet of screen along 200 linear feet of wraparound frontage.[1][8] This makes the screen the largest single LED screen in New York and over six times the size of the famous Coca-Cola sign in Times Square. The sign is 1,000 square feet larger than Times Square's previous largest - the 17,000 square foot sign on the flagship Walgreens store located at One Times Square.[9]

According to City Planning Department documents, an increase in the size (and FAR) of the 500 foot tall building was made possible by the transfer of air rights from two nearby Broadway locations.[10] The vanity address 20 Times Square was allocated by the City to the development in April 2014,[1][10][11] In May 2014 it was announced that the retail space is being leased through the CBRE Group.[1][11]

On November 30, 2017, the National Football League and Cirque du Soleil opened NFL Experience Times Square—an interactive museum attraction devoted to the league, in four ground-level floors.[12][13][14][15] It also contained broadcasting facilities for NFL Network's morning show Good Morning Football.[16] In September 2018, it was announced that the attraction would close, and would remain open through at least the end of 2018.[17][18]

In December 2019, just ten months after the Edition hotel opened, the French bank Natixis, which had provided the $2 billion dollar financing package for the project, filed to foreclose on the property, asserting that a $650 million portion of the loan package was in default because of numerous undischarged mechanics’ liens recorded against the property.[19] The foreclosure suit also alleged that the developer Maefield had defaulted by failing to lease the project’s retail space by a September 2019 deadline.[19] The suit alleged that as of December 2019, 90% of the property’s retail space had been sitting vacant.[20]

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References
  1. Barbarino, Al. "Ian Schrager Taps CBRE for 20 Times Square Retail". Commercial Observer. (May 21, 2014)
  2. Cuozzo, Steve. "Marriott brings Schrager's vision to Times Square's new 'Edition'". New York Post. (January 20, 2014)
  3. "Unique Recording Studio". Mix Magazine Online. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014. (August 1, 2000)
  4. Staff (July 15, 2011). "Chinese Developer Pledges up to $700 million with Vornado Realty Trust for Port Authority Tower". The Real Deal. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  5. Bagli, Charles V. (November 30, 2007). "Tower Planned Atop Port Authority Bus Terminal in New Wave of Development". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  6. Dunlap, David W. (July 25, 2008). "Designs Unveiled for Tower Above Port Authority Bus Terminal". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  7. "RENDERINGS RELEASED FOR PLANNED OFFICE TOWER ABOVE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL'S NORTH WING" (Press release). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. July 24, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  8. Barbarino, Al. "Ian Schrager Taps CBRE for 20 Times Square Retail". Commercial Observer. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  9. Collins, Glenn (May 24, 2008). "How to Stand Out in Times Square? Build a Bigger and Brighter Billboard". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  10. Cuozzo, Steve. "MiMa to get big Treehaus". New York Post. (December 16, 2013)
  11. "CBRE to market 20 Times Square retail". Real Estate Weekly. May 20, 2014.
  12. "This New Times Square Hotel Will Be Wrapped in New York City's Biggest Billboard". Travel & Leisure. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  13. "The Future of Cirque du Soleil Isn't the Circus". Bloomberg Businessweek. November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  14. Cox, Gordon (June 23, 2016). "Cirque du Soleil, NFL Team Up For Massive Times Square Attraction". Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  15. "The NFL opened up a football theme park in the middle of Times Square". SBNation.com. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  16. "Good Morning Football moving to new NFL Experience in Times Square". Awful Announcing. February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  17. "NFL Experience Sacked During First-Year Opening Drive". MediaPost. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  18. "NFL Experience Still Open In Times Square Through End Of Year". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved November 26, 2018.(subscription required)
  19. Bockmann, Rich (December 9, 2019). "Lender forecloses on Maefield's billion-dollar Times Square project". The Real Deal. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  20. Putzier, Konrad (December 10, 2019). "New York's Retail Property Slump Claims Big Times Square Building". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
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