Excavation Underway At 159 West 48th Street, Future Home Of Hard Rock Hotel, Times Square

159 West 48th Street. Rendering via Curbed NY

BY: MICHAEL YOUNG 7:30 AM ON JULY 13, 2018

On a plot of land along 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, excavation has begun for a 445-key Hard Rock Hotel, designed by Berg+ Moss Architects. The hotel’s Times Square outpost will be developed by Extell in a partnership with Hard Rock International, with an address at 159 West 48th Street. Extell purchased the site back in 2011 for $26 million, along with air rights that bring the project up to a potential scope of 225,000 square feet.

149 West 48th Street, seen in center of photo with three excavators on site, photo by Michael Young

In an area known as Music Row, where old music shops once lined the street, the site itself spans around 13,100 square feet with the main render showing the facade covered in glass, multiple large balconies for hotel rooms, and the Hard Rock’s signature logo placed below the roof parapet.

An additional terrace can also be seen at the top, which will most likely become the rooftop lounge and bar, while a restaurant, a lobby lounge and underground speakeasy are also set to round out the amenities.

Looking at the overall neighborhood reveals this is one of several new hotels and major redevelopment projects that are beginning to reshape the face of Times Square for the 21st century.

Times Square as of July 2018, photo by Michael Young

Other aspects that contribute to the ongoing change in neighborhood scenery include Snohetta’s completed stone plazas stretching down Broadway from 42nd to 48th Street, the new Marriott Edition hotel at 20 Times Square, 1568 Broadway‘s ongoing conversion, modern and larger LED billboards, and the amount of refurbished or newly built retail space.

No completion date has been announced for the new hotel just yet.