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Senor Frogs is Latest Tenant to Lease Space at Times Square High-Rise

By Alan Neuhauser | February 22, 2013 6:58am

MIDTOWN — A massive outpost of the popular party spot Señor Frogs is hopping into Midtown, opening a massive, two-story flagship restaurant in Times Square near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The announcement, first reported by the New York Observer's "Commercial Observer," is the capstone to a series of blockbuster real estate deals at 11 Times Square, which at first struggled to attract tenants after construction was completed in 2010.

In the past year, the 40-story, glass-walled skyscraper won leases from the Microsoft Corporation and Russian hospitality conglomerate Global Food International Corporation, which is planning a double-decker restaurant on the building’s ground floor and mezzanine.

"The building has taken a turn," said Joshua Strauss, vice president of retail realtor RKF, which represented landlord SJP Properties. "The only real challenge was you had a lot of space, and you had to figure out how to merchandise that space, to make sure we had value for every square foot. We had to figure out what the highest and best-use retail was.”

Señor Frogs will measure 21,000 square feet when it opens, and become the northernmost outpost in a chain of more than a dozen Mexican restaurants in tourist destinations from Las Vegas to Latin America.

The restaurant’s corporate headquarters and public relations firm did not return calls and emails for comment. Microsoft confirmed it had leased property at 11 Times Square, but declined to offer further details.

And Global Food International Corporation, which leased 25,000 square feet, could not be reached for comment.

All three properties are slated to open by 2014, Strauss said. He declined to disclose their lease prices.

Global Food International Corporation owns hotels and about 40 sushi restaurants across Russia called Dve Palochki, or Two Chopsticks, Strauss added. He did not elaborate on what the company's Times Square foray would entail, instead describing it as a "high-volume" establishment "that is going to be one of the more fantastic restaurants — not just in food, but in every way, sense and form."

"They're really amping up and setting the bar very high," Strauss added.

The Microsoft property, meanwhile, will be “a very specific use for them," Strauss said, but he declined to offer further details.