Jared Kushner is setting the table in world-class style, bringing in chef Todd English to curate a new food hall at his Times Square retail project.
The 11,970-square-foot American Market by Todd English will be located in the base of the former New York Times building at 229 W. 43 St. and will have entrances on both West 43rd and West 44th streets when it opens next summer.
The transaction completes Kushner Cos.’ lease-up of the entire 250,000-square-foot retail condo that was purchased for $296 million in 2015. The separately owned office portion’s tenants include Yahoo.
The new food mecca will be just a quick trot from English’s CaVa Brasserie in the Intercontinental Hotel further down West 44th Street. The chef also operates the Todd English Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel and is creating another at the W Downtown.
Although the Boston-based celebrity chef has had a reputation for playing hard, he’s also a hard worker who will be focused on choosing and overseeing all the chefs, design and menu.
The 15-year lease was signed by Kushner with Outstanding Hospitality Management Group, led by members of the Patel family. Its affiliated OHM Concession operates dining concepts at 11 airports and works with English at some of the locations.
Kushner said, “It’s a very, very special space and completes our vision to create a world-class entertainment, retail and dining destination in the heart of Times Square.”
OHM Group was represented by Greg Smith and Kelly Simek of JRT Realty Group. Chase Welles and Alexandra Escobar of The Shopping Center Group repped Kushner Cos. in the ground-floor lease.
No rents were disclosed, but the Real Estate Board of New York’s Spring 2016 Manhattan Retail Report pegged average ground-floor asking rents in Times Square at $2,363 per square foot.
