Broadway 4D Opening Entertainment Attraction at 234 West 42nd Street

Broadway 4D, a musical entertainment attraction, is set for its opening night at Times Square’s Liberty Theatre.

The entertainment project has signed a roughly 25,000-square-foot lease at Brookfield (BN) and Madison International Realty’s 234 West 42nd Street, a source with knowledge of the deal told Commercial Observer.

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Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Alan Schmerzler and Diana Boutross, who brokered the deal for the landlords, declined to comment. CBRE (CBRE)’s Gary Trock, who represented the tenant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Real Deal first reported the news.

The length of the lease and asking rent were unclear, but a report from CBRE found retail rents in Manhattan averaged $716 per square foot during the second quarter of 2024.

The idea for Broadway 4D started in 2012 as an immersive attraction merging 3D and 4D technologies to celebrate the history of Broadway musicals, according to Playbill. The project was originally planned for the Times Square Theater on West 42nd Street, but it stalled in 2014 due to financial troubles and renovations at the building.

In 2015, film producers Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner formed the 1991 Broadway Theatre Group to purchase the project from its originators, Broadway producer Gary Goddard, entertainment lawyer Robert Kory, and filmmakers Bryan Singer and Jeff Sagansky, Playbill reported.

Now, the new owners are moving the project to the Liberty Theatre, between Seventh and Eighth avenues. Broadway 4D isn’t set to open at the new spot for at least one year, as several renovations and interior improvements are needed, according to TRD.

The West 42nd Street building is also home to the Hilton New York Times Square hotel, which was developed by Forest City Ratner Companies in the 1990s as part of the “New 42” project, TRD reported. That project included the Liberty Theatre, which was built in 1904 for musicals and turned into a movie theater in 1933, according to the outlet.

Broadway 4D will join other tenants at the property including Dave & Buster’s and Applebee’s.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.