Amazon is close to locking down a deal to open a store in the famed Chrysler Building.
The space in the storied building, now up for sale, would span about 10K SF, the New York Post reports. The lease isn’t final, but it will be soon, retail sources told the newspaper. The news of the potential lease comes less than a week after it became public that the building, one of the best-known pieces of the city's skyline, is up for sale.
It wasn’t clear what sort of store Amazon wants to open, but the tech giant is reportedly planning an Amazon Go store at Brookfield Place and has already opened Amazon 4-Stars in SoHo and Amazon Books at Columbus Circle.
The Chrysler Building is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council, which paid a Tishman Speyer-led group $800M for a 90% stake in the building in 2008. Tishman Speyer still manages and owns 10% of the building.
A buyer could potentially acquire the Trylons retail and office pavilion next door in a package deal with the Skyscraper, according to the Post. That property has 29K SF of space, and around 70K SF of unused air rights.
However, investment sales have been sluggish in the city, and some have wondered if Abu Dhabi Investment Council would be able to break even on its sale in the current climate and if the building is an attractive investment in a city filled with brand-new office space.
CBRE broker Darcy Stacom, who is marketing the building, said she has received interest from Ireland, Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong, saying the property has “an X factor the likes of which I’ve never seen."
For one, Ronan Group Real Estate’s Johnny Ronan is interested in the building, the Sunday Independent reports. One of Ireland's most prominent developers, Ronan came close to acquiring the leasehold on the Empire State Building more than 30 years ago.
