World's Largest Starbucks Opening in NYC

— -- The world's largest Starbucks is coming to one of the Big Apple's trendiest neighborhoods.

The 20,000-square-foot "New York Roastery" will open in 2018 in New York City's Meatpacking District, near a slew of high-fashion boutiques, restaurants and bars. Nearby are Google's New York offices, an Apple store and the heavily trafficked High Line walkway.

Here's how the company describes the store concept, according to its announcement this week: "A local sensation since opening its doors, the Roastery is coffee as theater, encouraging customers to interact with Starbucks roasters and baristas in order to deepen their understanding of the art behind sourcing, roasting and brewing rare coffees.

The location, at 61 Ninth Avenue, previously belonged to Prince Lumber, a hardware supplier and contractor, until 2015.

This will be Starbuck's second "roastery," following the first that opened December 2014 in Seattle, where the company is headquartered. That roastery is just blocks away from the very first Starbucks store.

The new roastery will be in a futuristic nine-story office building that's a joint venture between Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital. Starbucks said the building, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year, will span 170,000-square feet. The new building was designed by Rafael Viñoly.