Vermont-based ice-cream giant Ben & Jerry’s is set to bring its famously radical collection of flavors to the country’s most high-profile retail center: Times Square.
The ice-cream retailer has signed a 10-year-lease for 750 Square Feet On The 44th Street side of the Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jeffrey Roseman told The Real Deal.
Space at the property, which was built in the 1920s as the headquarters for Paramount Pictures, was asking $500 a foot, but Roseman declined to comment on the exact price paid by Ben & Jerry’s. The retailer also has a space at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Roseman and Newmark’s Jason Maurer represented the landlord Paramount Leasehold LP in the deal, while Neal Ohm of Neal Cabot Ohm represented Ben & Jerry’s and its franchisee.
Ohm said Ben & Jerry’s was attracted to the space for its high-traffic and reputation as a tourist hot spot. “Tourists are really going to look for that brand,” he said.
Ben & Jerry’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ice-cream maker has been locked in a legal battle with Ben & Cherry’s, a retailer that’s been marketing pornographically-titled equivalents to Ben & Jerry’s flavors. Titles include “Boston Cream Thighs,” “Peanut Butter D-Cups” and “Karamel Sutra.” Ben & Jerry’s won a court order last week which will block Ben & Cherry’s from selling their ice cream in the meantime.
Ohm said Ben & Jerry’s will take possession of the Times Square premises in December. The store will likely open by March. In April, it will host a Free Cone Day, during which free ice-cream cups and cones will be handed out to customers.
The city is becoming more and more yogurt-obsessed it seems, evidenced by recent leases signed by Pinkberry and Chobani. Pinkberry inked a 12-year deal for 1,000 square feet at 414 Amsterdam Avenue. Last year, Chobani signed its first New York City lease at 150 Prince Street.