Manhattan’s biggest little retail corner will have a lot of “Friends” this year.
The glass-wrapped, rounded corner of 701 Seventh Ave., aka 20 Times Square, has been vacant since the building opened at the corner of West 47th Street eight years ago, despite its prime location next to the Edition Times Square Hotel.
Area visitors wondered why it remained empty at one of the world’s most heavily-trafficked locations, surrounded by hotels, theaters, restaurants and bright lights.
But it will soon house a Warner Brothers re-creation of the Central Perk coffee shop in the TV sitcom, “Friends,” offering a “unique immersive retail and cafe experience,” according to Cushman & Wakefield.
The pop-up is part of a strategy by Cushman, which was tapped to market the property’s 49,000 square feet of retail space — including, the under-3,000 square-foot ground-floor corner. Retailers and food merchants have shunned it over its unusual shape and the fact that it was often blocked behind a half-dozen giant hot dog stands.
The building’s asset and property managers, GreenBarn Investment Group and Newbond Holdings, hope the “Friends” mock-up will alert retailers to the corner site’s potential for long-term use.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Steven Soutendijk called it a “one-of-a-kind opportunity for global brands looking to make a statement in the entertainment and retail capital of the world.”
He hopes to “secure one or more long-term tenants for the entirety of 49,000 square feet of space” at the location.
Although 701 Seventh Ave. is home to the giant Hershey’s store, most of its retail space on the second, third and fourth floor and in the basement have lain vacant since the NFL Experience closed in 2018.
The loss of rent revenue was a drain on former owner Maefield’s balance sheet and led to its losing the property in foreclosure.
