Times Square Fever Not Over Yet as Toys R Us Signs Mega Deal

Toys R Us, long billing itself as the biggest toy store there is-apparently is. The Paramus, NJ-based retailer has inked a 101,000-sf deal for space in Times Square on the corner of Broadway and 44th. The space is being billed as the largest toy-retailing venue in the world. Certainly it’s among the priciest; the annual rent has been valued at roughly $12 million, although neither participant in the deal would confirm or deny the amount. “The number’s wrong,” says Brad Mendelson, the Insignia/ESG Retail Group managing director who brought Toys R Us to the deal, “but it’s not far off.” Retail rents in the district range from $100 to $125 per foot.

What is right, Mendelson tells GlobeSt.com, is that despite reports of a cooling economy, the entertainment destination shows no sign of slacking. “There isn’t a market in the city–whether it’s retail, commercial or multifamily–that seems to be showing signs of slowing,” he says.

As splashy as the news is, Mendelson reports that the site wasn’t the retailer’s only choice. The Reuters Building was an early contender, but the button-down anchor tenant apparently had issues with the two-million-person-per-year foot traffic that the retailer would draw. As one industry insider told GlobeSt.com, “they didn’t want it to become the Toys R Us Building.”

“It does create an impediment,” Mendelson agrees. Bow Tie Management represented ownership in the deal.