20 Times Square Billboard Valued at $100M-plus According to NYS Judge

The 18,500-square-foot billboard that wraps around the base of the Times Square Marriott EDITION hotel has been valued at approximately $103 million as part of a foreclosure proceeding underway in the New York State Supreme Court. Back in August, Judge Joel Cohen determined that the 452-key hotel at 701 Seventh Avenue, also known as 20 Times Square, is worth $311 million, while a “fair and reasonable market value” for the billboard and storefront space is $546 million, of which the “billboard accounts for about a fifth of the retail space.” Contributing to the high value of the LED display is the premium price that advertisers pay to stand out in the Times Square area where more than between 250,000 and 300,000 pedestrians pass through daily according to data from the Times Square Alliance. In addition, the massive screen located at the corner of West 47^th Street is not only “Times Square’s biggest, “but its images are the sharpest” according to reported court document information, boasting “26.7 million pixels and resolution 16 times higher than high-definition.” Annual rent for the sign would be as much as $41 million based on the $2,100 and $2,200 price per square foot submitted in court documents by two independent appraisers that looked at several nearby billboards, citing 1 Times Square which charges a similar rent but only generates $25 million in annual rent since it is about 40% smaller; while 1551 Broadway’s billboard is similar in size but because its per square foot rent is less than half of the 47th Street display, it only generates about $15 million in annual rent.

Source:    https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/times-square-billboard-worth-100-million