Kushner Companies announced the signing of a 15-year lease agreement to bring LOS TACOS No. 1 to Times Square in the former New York Times building.
The 1,800 s/f space will be the first brick-and-mortar presence for the Mexican street-food style Taqueria, which serves more than 1,000 people each day in its Chelsea Market location.
The restaurant will be located at 229 West 43rd Street, adjacent to the lobby entrances of Yahoo and Snapchat.
Kushner Cos. acquired the retail condominium space at 229 West 43rd in 2015. The restaurant will open in this coming winter.
“We’re excited to announce this deal as part of our ongoing repositioning of this iconic site,” said Laurent Morali, president of Kushner Cos.
“LOS TACOS No. 1 is exactly the kind of high-quality retail we’re looking to bring to this prime location, and continues our push into the retail market.”
The founders of LOS TACOS No. 1 originally came to New York from the West Coast in search of careers in architecture and film, but changed their plans after recognizing the city’s lack of quality Mexican taquerias.
“After earning such great recognition for serving our award-winning tacos to New Yorkers, we’re thrilled to expand to this timeless location,” said Christian Pineda, the restaurant’s Co-Founder.
“New York finally has an authentic taco to show off to visitors from around the world and Times Square is the perfect place to do it. We can’t wait to get started.”
The deal was secured by Morris Harary of Kushner Cos. LOS TACOS No. 1 was represented by Neal Ohm of Neal Cabot Ohm.
The signing comes as Kushner Cos. continues its revamp of the historic building.
Last month, the firm signed a 15-year, 60,000 s/f lease with Times Square Attractions Live, LLC to bring National Geographic Times Square, an interactive entertainment multi-floor venue, to the West 44th Street side of the building. That space will open in summer 2017.
