By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — One of the restaurateurs behind the ghoul-themed restaurant chain Jekyll & Hyde is planning a new restaurant in Times Square, DNAinfo has learned.
The owners of 229 West 44th St., the old New York Times building, announced last week they'd signed a lease with a mysterious group called Adventure Entertainment, LLC, to open a "popular theme-based restaurant."
The new eatery would occupy 23,452 square-foot space on the ground and second floors of the complex that also houses the new Midtown location of Bowlmor Lanes, the Times Square Discovery Center and a soon-to-open Daffy’s.
Jeffrey Roseman, the broker who represented Adventure Entertainment in the deal, said New Yorkers should expect an exciting themed eatery that goes far beyond a traditional restaurant, but declined to reveal the name under which it will operate.
"They're very experienced guys," was all Roseman would say of the team, but said the deal will make the block "the block of Times Square."
Adventure Entertainment has no listing online, and calls to a phone number listed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings were not returned. Other people associated with the deal, including the lawyer who represented the group and a spokeswoman for Africa Israel USA, which owns the Times Square building, also declined to comment.
Rumors have been swirling that the space is slated to become another outpost in the Jekyll & Hyde empire, bolstered in an Israeli media report that cited unnamed sources.
The Jekyll & Hyde Entertainment Group operates several high-profile restaurants in the city, including their flagship Jekyll and Hyde club at 1409 Avenue of the Americas, the Jekyll & Hyde pub in Greenwich Village, the Slaughtered Lamb Pub on West 4th Street and Oliver's on Barrow Street, according to their website.
The group also has several outposts in Long Island, including the pirate-themed Bayville Adventure Park and the Shipwreck Tavern.
The Bayville Adventure Park has the same address that Adventure Entertainment listed on one of its SEC filings. The same filing also lists Donald R. Finley as Adventure’s executive officer. Jekyll & Hyde Entertainment's answering machine names a "D.R. Finley" as one of two individuals for whom messages can be left.
Crain's New York Business also reported that Adventure's answering machine directed callers to a number for Jekyll & Hyde, but on Thursday the message was gone.
Calls and emails to the group for comments were not returned.
In addition to the new eatery, the rest of the former Times building is set to be converted into hotel and condo space. Negotiations are now in the works with "an international flag" hotel brand, Africa Israel spokeswoman Roxanne Donovan said.
