A 15,000-square-foot active gaming arena has taken over a stretch of retail space on Union Square East that once housed a flagship Toys “R” Us, marking Activate Games’ first US flagship location and the Winnipeg-founded chain’s debut in New York City. The venue at 24 Union Square East in Manhattan opens to the public Saturday, August 22, with a grand-opening celebration built around a partnership with ice cream brand Carvel.
Construction Management and Builders, Inc. announced Monday that it had completed construction of the venue, working alongside Activate Games and global architecture and design firm Gensler to deliver what the companies describe as an immersive, technology-driven destination in Manhattan, according to New York Real Estate Journal. The completed space includes custom ceiling installations, integrated lighting systems, illuminated architectural details, and specialty finishes throughout its 13 interactive game rooms, according to CM&B. The build also included a newly constructed street-level entrance and custom stair and elevator access, per the same account.
“Opening our first US flagship store in New York City is a major milestone for Activate,” said Dylan Tighe, vice president of development at Activate Games, per the New York Real Estate Journal report. Leah Blackman, senior vice president at CM&B, said the firm helped bring Activate Games’ next-generation brand vision to life, according to the outlet. The project marked Gensler’s first completed collaboration with Activate Games, and the build required coordination around landlord-led infrastructure improvements at the site, the report notes.
A Century-Old Retail Address Turns Into a Gaming Arena
The 160,000-square-foot building at 24 Union Square East has a retail history stretching back over a century. It originally housed the flagship S. Klein department store from 1912 until the 1970s, before later tenancies by Toys “R” Us and a Raymour & Flanigan furniture showroom, according to the New York Real Estate Journal and Commercial Observer. The building remains owned by S. Klein Family, LLC, per Commercial Observer, which also reported in February 2025 that Activate Games signed a long-term lease for 14,812 square feet spanning part of the ground floor and the entire second floor. Asking rents in the building were reported by Newmark at $350 per square foot on the ground floor and $95 per square foot on the second floor, illustrating the premium commanded by prime Manhattan retail space.
Activate isn’t the only experiential concept moving into the building. South Korean entertainment company DearU International signed a 10-year lease for nearly 10,000 square feet on the ground floor of 24 Union Square East to open Bubble House New York, a K-pop fan experience flagship, according to a Q2 2026 report from the Union Square Partnership. Together, the two tenants signal how the address has shifted from traditional department-store retail toward international, tech-enabled experiences drawing foot traffic rather than shopping bags.
Carvel’s 75th Anniversary Fuels the Grand-Opening Push
Saturday’s grand opening will feature a limited-edition Carvel-themed version of Activate’s interactive “Strike” game, a collaboration timed to the 75th anniversary of Carvel’s Flying Saucer ice cream sandwich, according to a press release carried by the Caledonian Record. The completed venue combines interactive gaming, physical activity, and hospitality-inspired design across its game rooms, per the New York Real Estate Journal.
Activate Games was founded in 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by husband-and-wife team Adam and Megan Schmidt, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police pilot and a physiotherapist with a kinesiology background, who had previously run The Real Escape Canada, according to Retail Insider. The chain has since expanded to more than 75 locations across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, France, Finland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, per a report cited by Highlight.
Backed by Millions in Financing for Rapid US Rollout
The Union Square opening is part of a broader US expansion push. Activate Games announced an exclusive master agreement in October 2024 with development partner Sounds Fun Entertainment to open 50 new locations across 21 states, according to a company press release. That growth has been backed by $72 million in debt financing from Export Development Canada and RBC Royal Bank, according to data reported by PitchBook in March 2026.
Union Square itself remains one of the busiest commercial corridors in the city, with foot traffic on nearby Broadway Plaza reaching average peaks of more than 50,500 daily visitors on Greenmarket Wednesdays, according to the Union Square Partnership’s Q2 2026 report. That volume helps explain why a landlord would reposition a century-old department-store building around experiential tenants able to draw repeat, high-traffic visits rather than one-time purchases.
Activate Games has been on a national building spree well beyond Manhattan. Hoodline previously reported on the chain securing space at Jacksonville’s St. Johns Town Center and opening its first Wisconsin location at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, part of the same broader push into vacant big-box and mall spaces that is now culminating in the company’s flagship US location on Union Square East.
