Extell Taps Hyatt To Anchor Times Square Supertall

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Hyatt Hotels will carry the torch for Gary Barnett’s Times Square supertall.

Extell Development tapped Hyatt as the hospitality partner of the Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported. Hyatt’s StandardX brand, which doesn’t have a presence in North America to this point, will make its continental debut as the anchor to the project.

The hotel is set to feature 1,800 rooms, making it one of the largest in New York City. The address of the hotel will be 255 West 45th Street. The partnership marks the latest offshoot of Hyatt’s simpler alternative to its Standard brand, having already launched a flagship in Melbourne, Australia.

“The StandardX team shares our vision for creating places that stand apart, and together we’re bringing a new energy and perspective to Times Square,” Extell executive Ari Alowan Goldstein said in a statement.

Extell previously said it had reached a 40-year franchise deal with an international hotel chain. The hotel chain will provide $60 million in financing for the project.

Last month, Barnett’s firm finalized a $1.1 billion construction loan from banks led by JPMorgan for the Torch. It also secured a $150 million mezzanine loan from U.S. financial institutions.

Extell has completed 40 out of 60 stories of the hotel and retail tower, which also has a 250-foot amusement ride. The firm disclosed in a recent filing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that its senior loan has a rate of SOFR + 4.0 percent and its mezzanine financing has a rate of 6.79 percent.

Extell also reached a 15-year deal with a restaurant group for the building’s restaurants and bars at the hotel and observation deck. The company expects its stabilized net operating income from the project to be between $250 million and $270 million a year and does not plan to bring in more equity to finish the project because it obtained construction financing.

The Torch will have 130,000 square feet of advertising space, 94,000 square feet of food and beverage space and three observation decks. Reports have put completion of the project in the second half of 2028.

— Holden Walter-Warner