Times Square Business Openings Top Pandemic Closings

NEW YORK CITY–A bustling Times Square, which is reclaiming its crown as Crossroads of the World with a surge in tourism, rising retail rents and a bevy of new businesses, has notched in important benchmark in its recovery from the travails of the pandemic.

The entertainment district, which saw 179 businesses shutter during the Covid-19 emergency, recently recorded its 180th business opening since the pandemic, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Retail rents in Times Square averaged $1,342 per square foot in the third quarter, a 40% increase from the same period last year, when average asking rents plunged to $959 per square foot, according to a new report from JLL.

The return of tourists to Times Square also is lifting the fortunes of hotels in the Times Square and Midtown West market, where occupancy reached a post-pandemic high of 88%, preliminary data from CoStar reports. The average daily room rate in the market has surged to $417.

MSCI Real Assets reports that nearly a quarter of the $1.9B in hotel trades that have closed this year involved properties in and around Times Square. These deals include the $165M sale by Sherman Equities of the 317-room Renaissance, which was purchased by Newbond Holdings in a partnership with Apollo Global Management.

According to the Broadway League, which tracks ticket sales for Broadway theaters, attendance is up from last year, but still lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019. The Times Square Alliance, a nonprofit, reports that overall foot traffic in Times Square remains below pre-pandemic levels while retail availability is still above the 2019 level.

A proliferation of new restaurants has opened in the neighborhood this year. Jeffrey Bank, CEO of Alicart Restaurant Group, co-owner of the new 15K SF Mermaid Oyster Bar, told WSJ that sales are “through the roof,” particularly on Tuesday through Thursday, peak days for hybrid office workers.

Banks and his partners are planning to open a second restaurant, Bar Mexicana, next door to the Mermaid Oyster Bar.

Depending on how the cards flop in the biggest economic development poker game in NYC-the selection of winning bids for three casinos in the Big Apple-Times Square may become the venue for another major tourist attraction.

SL Green Realty, gaming giant Caesars Entertainment and Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, are bidding to redevelop 1515 Broadway in Times Square as a casino.

The partners said Caesars Palace Times Square will be designed to include a Broadway theater that will be home to The Lion King. They also promised “significant security and traffic improvements” in Times Square.