Tishman Speyer is the frontrunner to become the owner of one of New York City’s most iconic properties — again.
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The property stalwart, which owns Rockefeller Center, is in advanced talks to become the Chrysler Building’s owner for the second time in the building’s history, Crain’s New York Business reported.
Cooper Union, a private college that owns the ground under the property, wrested control of the Chrysler Building from RFR Holding last January after a protracted legal battle.
Savills has been looking for a new owner for the 77-story tower for a year on behalf of Cooper Union.
Tishman Speyer declined to comment.
Savanna is another landlord potentially interested in the property, Crain’s reported, citing anonymous sources.
Cooper Union, Savills, SL Green and Savanna didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tishman Speyer acquired the lease to the Chrysler building for $220M in 1997 before slowly selling off 90% of its stake in multiple deals. In 2008, a deal with the Abu Dhabi Investment Council valued the landmark art deco tower at $800M.
But ADIA and Tishman Speyer sold the property to RFR and Signa Holding in 2019 for $150M, a drop in value likely attributed to Cooper Union upping the ground rent from $7.75M to $32.5M before RFR and Signa closed the deal.
Whether or not Tishman cinches the deal might depend on how much rent it is willing to pay.
The ground rent is set to increase to $41M in two years, even though the property likely needs serious investments for repairs. The building is currently 14% vacant, but the state of the building — even after RFR spent $175M on improvements — and pending lease expirations could cause that figure to drop.
New ownership would close a chaotic chapter in the building's history. RFR had previously planned to acquire Signa's 50% stake, but the deal was complicated by Signa's 2023 insolvency filing, which resulted in a fraud conviction for the investor's founder, Rene Benko.
RFR defaulted on its rent payments during the pandemic, and after a protracted dispute with Cooper Union, a judge ruled the school could evict RFR because of the $21M in unpaid rent.
CORRECTION, FEB. 20, 12:45 P.M. ET: Abu Dhabi Investment Council previously owned a stake in the Chrysler Building. A previous version of this story misidentified the ownership entity. This story has been updated.
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