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The NY Post is reporting that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council "is negotiating an $800 million deal for a 75 percent stake" of the Chrsyler Building. Which would mean the entire Art Deco skyscraper, designed by William Van Alen (who was never paid!), is valued at over $1 billion.
TMW, a German investment group, is apparently looking to sell its stake of the building, which it bought for $300 million in 2001. Tishman-Speyer owns the other 25% and operates the whole building. Also included in the deal would be the Trylons retail space. If the deal is completed, this would be the second major real estate deals in recent weeks--Macklowe sold the GM building and some others for under $4 billion to a group of investors.
What's interesting is that Cooper Union actually owns the property the Chrysler building sits on: The school "leased it in a long-term arrangement to others and uses the payments to support tuition for its students."
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Cooper Union has a pretty sweet deal.
When will I be able to dance in the rooftop dining room?
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_building):
"The private Cloud Club occupied the 66th–68th floors, but closed in the late 1970s."
It's better than when they buy works of art. They can't take the Chrysler Building home with them.
How long until NYU buys Cooper Union to get a hold of this?
At face value, this represents a 15% annual rate of return on the Germans' investment in the property ($300mn to $800mn in 7 yrs), excluding the cash flow they derived from the property while they held it. That is solid. On the other hand, the US Dollar is down about 35% over the same period, so any returns on investment in US assets are knocked down a great deal (the Germans bought high and are selling low, currency-wise, hopefully they were hedging).
It's still the best looking skyscraper in Manhattan, regardless of who owns it. I just hope the Abu Dhabi owners don't pull a Hamilton Grange move on it and take it from 42nd St. to the Gulf.
I love that picture. I half expect to see Q the winged serpent swooping in at any moment.
I always wondered how it was that Cooper underwrote tuition for all students, awesome.
It looks so thirties. Can't Cooper Union just tear it down and put up a glass block building there that is more up to date and modern looking?
The most interesting this is that Cooper does not collect rent from Tishman, it's actually in the City charter that the assessed property tax gets paid directly to Cooper and not to the City. That's a pretty good deal at about 8 million a year. That's not our only landholding either. A lot of the Bowery is ours too.
NYU doesn't need the money from this; they're more likely to buy Cooper Union so they can tear down the buildings in the East Village and build more ugly dorms.
Cooper Union should sell the air rights to Dubai so they can build a taller version of Burj Dubai above it.