New York's Chrysler Building is on the market — and its owners may struggle to recoup their nearly US$1 billion (NZ$1.47 billion) investment.
Estimates vary when it comes to what the famed art deco building at Lexington Ave. and 42nd Street — owned by the government of Abu Dhabi and developer Tishman Speyer — might fetch, according to the NY Post.
But some real-estate investors told the outlet that Abu Dhabi may face headwinds recovering the US$800 million it plunked down for a 90 per cent stake in the building back in 2008, just before the stock market cratered.
The land beneath the 77-floor building is owned by the Cooper Union school — and costs a pretty penny to lease. In 2017, the rent was US$7.75 million, but the price swelled last year to US$32.5 million.
Start your property search
And it’s only going to go up.
In 2028, it will cost US$41 million to lease the land — on top of other fees included in the lease, Cooper Union’s financial documents show.
Owners are also battling for tenants with new Manhattan builds that boast modern amenities, like bike storage, outdoor terraces, fitness centres and floor-to-ceiling windows.
And then there’s the cost of maintaining the nearly 90-year-old skyscraper.
“There might be a billionaire who comes along and says, ‘I want to tell the world I own the Chrysler Building,’” Adelaide Polsinelli, who heads the commercial investment sales and leasing division at real-estate services firm Compass, told the Journal.
But, she warned, “When things break, it takes much longer to fix because there’s only one guy on the planet that has the tools to fix something from the 1920s and 1940s.”
The Chrysler Building was built between 1928 and 1930 and enjoyed the short-lived title as the world’s tallest building with a height of 318.8m — before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building’s 381m in 1931.
It is being marketed by CBRE Group Inc.
