Avison Young and CBRE are announcing they have arranged a new lease and relocation to 701 7th Avenue - commonly known as 20 Times Square - for Hershey’s Chocolate World flagship Times Square location, the popular interactive midtown retail experience.
Hershey signed a leasefor ground floor space at the building located at 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, currently being developed into a 452-key five-star EDITION hotel above 70,000 square feet of multi-level retail space and 17,000 square feet of outdoor signage. This also represents a major Manhattan expansion for Hershey, as the brand will be relocating to a space three times as large as their existing Hershey’s Chocolate World Times Square siteat 48th and Broadway.
The Hershey Company was represented by Jedd Nero, a Principal and Executive Managing Director of Retail Services for the Avison Young New York office along with George Maragos, Senior Vice President from CBRE’sChicago’s office, who serves as the single point of contact for CBRE’s relationship with TheHershey Company. Sherri White, Executive Vice President and Partner withWitkoff represented building ownership in the negotiations. CBRE’s New York office represents the landlord of 20 Times Square.
Hersheyanticipates a late 2017 opening for the expanded store.The deal also represents the second major retail tenant at the property, following the recent announcement of the new NFL Times Square experience (presented by Cirque du Soleil) that will also be moving into the building.
“We negotiated to have two entrances for Hershey, one adjacent to the NFL Experience on Seventh Avenue and another on West 47th Street, adjacent to the EDITION hotel. The combination of Hershey’sChocolate World retail experience, NFL Experience, the EDITIONhotel and others to be announced, will attract millions of people per year, making 20 Times Square one of the most recognizable locations in the bow-tie and a must see on every tourists list,” noted Mr. Nero.
The 20 Times Square building is a 39-story, 350,000-square-foot mixed-use project comprising the new EDITION hotel, 70,000 square feet of retail, and a 17,000-square-foot outdoor sign, one of the largest LED screens in Times Square.
Avison Young is the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,400 real estate professionals in 78 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties.
