Hard Rock International signed on to open a flagship hotel in New York.
The 445-room hotel will open spring 2019 on a block of Times Square known in the past as "Music Row." Located on 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, the hotel will be developed on a site owned by Extell Development, which purchased a parking garage on that spot for $46 million in December 2014.
Terms of the deal between Hard Rock and Extell have yet to be disclosed. Hard Rock's New York hotel is expected to have an underground speakeasy and a rooftop lounge designed for live music and events. The property will also incorporate the Hard Rock Cafe at 1501 Broadway, which will be kept open as a separate business entity.
“We’re interested in iconic destinations, we want to focus on really great places,” Hamish Dodds, CEO at Hard Rock International, said in a statement. “We’ve been trying to get into New York for a long, long time.”