The world-famous Chrysler Building skyscraper in New York has been officially put up for sale

Chrysler Building and Empire State Building skyscrapers in New York in the evening. Photo by Vikmar

The famous Chrysler Building skyscraper in New York has been officially put up for sale by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) owning 90% of the buildings, jointly with the American real estate development company Tishman Speyer Properties owning 10% of the building. In 2018, the Abu-Dhabi ADIC was included into the government investment company Mubadala Investment Co as the result of a merger. Today, total assets of this large fund are valued at up to $250 billion. Sellers’ interests are represented by the commercial real estate broker company, CBRE Group Inc with headquarters in Los Angeles.

The broadsheet The Wall Street Journal was among the first ones to report this news in the USA real estate industry, with reference to Darcy A. Stacom, who is the Vice Chairperson of CBRE Group Inc (earlier CB Richard Ellis Group, editor’s note). In particular, official representatives of the Mubadala investment fund, Tishman Speyer Properties development company, and those of CBRE broker company, refrained from providing detailed comments on reasons, sales conditions and prices at Chrysler Building.

Numerous experts in the field of commercial real estate name the historical building owners’ wish to return their investments in the amount of $1 billion among the possible reasons for the landmark skyscraper sale.

The decision to sell Chrysler Building could have also been influenced by:

land rent increase;
high level of competition for potential tenants of New York commercial premises;
increase in operating costs and the complexity of maintenance for a rare skyscraper with 89 years of operation.

The 77-storied Chrysler Building was built in 1930 on a leased land lot at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street, owned by the Cooper Union School private college.

In particular, in 2017 $7.75 million was spent for land lease, and in 2018, rental costs have already reached $32.5 million.

In accordance with the financial documents of Cooper Union, rental costs of Chrysler Building owners for 2028 can amount up to $41 million, excluding the accompanying fees and payments included into the lease agreement.

The building has a favorable location in Midtown Manhattan at 42nd Street, one block to the east from Grand Central Terminal, the largest urban transport hub. For the time being, 81% of the commercial space is rented in Chrysler Building. The list of the skyscraper major tenants includes Spaces, Creative Arts Agency and the Moses & Singer law firm. In the nearest future, the famous Amazon also intends to execute the lease agreement for 930 m2 (10 thousand square feet) of commercial space in Chrysler Building.

However, the historical skyscraper owners have to compete constantly with managing companies of new state-of-the-art high-rise multifunctional complexes, offering tenants more comfortable conditions and perfect technological equipment of premises with wide panoramic windows and open verdure terraces. An additional bonus for tenants in new buildings is the possibility to use public health centers for recreational purposes.

Despite the well-known examples of unprofitable contribution of assets into the most expensive objects of the USA historical real estate, the owners of the Chrysler Building skyscraper expect to sell to large international investors and gain significant profit, this famous building that has been impersonating the beginning of the American high-rise construction, automotive and film industry for many decades.

By early evaluation of prospects for Chrysler Building skyscraper sale, Mrs. Darcy A. Stacom indicated, in particular, that she had not seen any similar objects yet, and that she had been receiving inquires from potential buyers of the legendary building coming from all corners of the world: from Dublin, Madrid, Hong Kong and Singapore. It should be noted that total volume of completed sales and realized transaction in the field of real estate performed by Mrs. Darcy A. Stacom exceeds the amount of $50 billion.

Chrysler Building skyscraper will be sold for $151 million

On March 15, 2019, the international media published information about the reached agreement for the sale of Chrysler Building skyscraper by its owners, the investment board of the Abu Dhabi Emirate and the real estate development company Tishman Speyer Properties, the joint venture of the Austrian SIGNA Group and the American RFR Holding, for $151 million. The aforementioned company was specially created by SIGNA Group, the largest private investment company in Europe, in equal partnership with New York real estate developer ‘RFR Holding’, with the purpose to acquire this skyscraper trophy.

For many years, the international company SIGNA Group has been specializing in the acquisition and renovation of historic real estate objects in prestigious districts of the largest cities in the world. According to one of the expert judgments, the extremely popular skyscraper can be reorganized from an office building into a high-rise hotel complex. At this, expenditures at its reorganization and technical re-equipment can be from $150 to 250 million. The SIGNA Group management expressed confidence that, by owning Chrysler Building in New York, the company will be able to further contribute to enhancing the historical and cultural status of this unique architectural complex.

Chrysler Building is a global champion and a holder

Due to the unique architectural and technical characteristics, at the time of its construction completion on May 27, 1930, the 77-storied Chrysler Building skyscraper was 318.9 meters, or 1046 feet high, so that it became the highest building on the planet. This record lasted for only 11 months until April 11, 1931, when the 102-storied Empire State Building was erected. Despite this, Chrysler Building entered the history of civil engineering as the world’s highest brick building with a steel carrying frame.

In 1976, the status of the National Historic Landmark was assigned to Chrysler Building, and in 1978, the famous skyscraper officially became the New York City Landmark.

Poll of the most famous experts in the field of the USA architecture and high-rise construction conducted in 2005 by the Skyscraper Museum in Manhattan demonstrated that Chrysler Building had been recognized as the best of TOP 25 the most famous high-rises in New York. Moreover, it should be noted that Chrysler Building holds the honorable 9th place in the list of the most famous and respected USA buildings and complexes ‘America’s Favorite Architecture.’

The recognizable architectural image of the Chrysler Building skyscraper has been captured in numerous movies, television shows and artworks of photographers all over the globe, being an integral part of colorful views of Manhattan and a picturesque silhouette of New York.

For many decades, the Chrysler Building has earned the cinematic award ‘The Award for Best Supporting Skyscraper ’, as the best skyscraper for visual support for the image video sequence in the most famous movies shot in New Yorkonce joked the famous American Architect James Sanders