The Mayfair Hotel, a boutique property in New York’s Times Square that has sat empty since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, will reopen after undergoing a renovation.

The Mayfair Hotel Group signed a 25-year lease at the 78-key, 21,273-square-foot building at 242 W. 49th St. between Seventh and Eighth avenues, Avison Young said Tuesday in a statement, adding the agreement was brokered off-market and began in January.

The triple-net lease deal includes a renewal option for another 24 years. Mayfair Hotel Group will be responsible for paying rent plus building expenses including taxes, insurance and common-area maintenance.

An Avison Young spokesperson declined to identify the landlord to CoStar News.

Mayfair Hotel Group has begun a $2.5 million renovation of the hotel to feature an updated interior design, enhanced mechanical systems, and new food and beverage operations. The hotel will soon be named the Mayfair Hotel NYC, Avison Young said. Construction on the revamp is expected to take up to a year, with an official opening to follow.

“The resurgence of work and leisure travel has spurred demand for well-located hotel rooms throughout NYC,” said Avison Young Associate Director Noah Kossoff, who represented both the tenant and the landlord along with legal representation from Ian Lester of Lester Bleckner & Shaw. “Sitting directly in Times Square’s Theater District, the Mayfair Hotel will be well positioned to meet the demand in the area while offering affordable yet convenient stays to travelers from across the globe.”

The new lease comes at a time when tourists have gradually returned to the tourist and entertainment hub after Times Square was turned into a ghost town at the start of the pandemic. In December, the area that’s dubbed the “Crossroads of the World” saw 277,066 average daily visitors, just 18.7% shy of the comparable level before the pandemic in 2019, according to the business group Times Square Alliance.