Exclusive | 550 Madison Ave. — maybe Midtown’s – Business News
A world holding company with $22 billion in managed property has claimed what could be Midtown’s most coveted, crown-jewel workplace location.
Aquarian Holdings LP signed a lease with landlord Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Ave. for the landmarked “Chippendale” tower’s 75,000 square-foot, three-level penthouse, Realty Check has realized.
It brings the 750,000 square-foot trophy to about 96% leased.
550 Madison Ave., above, was bought for $1.4 billion in 2016 by Olayan, which reimagined and retooled the building’s workplace flooring and foyer for twenty first century tenants. Google maps
Olayan purchased the pink granite tower for $1.4 billion in 2016 when it was vacant and upgraded it for a minimum of $300 million more. The company redesigned the lower-floors facade and enlarged retail home windows underneath the watchful eye of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The workplace flooring and foyer have been comprehensively re-imagined and systems re-tooled for twenty first century tenants.
The repositioning additionally consists of a new, block-long, glass-canopied pedestrian arcade and garden between East fifty fifth and East 56th streets.
Aquarian Holdings LP founder Rudy Sahay aquarianlp
The Philip Johnson- and John Burgee-designed building is home to marquee-name tenants together with Chubb Ltd., which was the primary to signal on for 240,000 sq. toes; non-public equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, with 144,000 sq. toes; and Hermes for its 72,000 square-foot US headquarters.
A source stated solely the 22d ground and a small prebuilt part of the thirty fourth ground stay accessible.
On the retail aspect, Simon Kim’s Gracious Hospitality Group leased 550 Madison’s northern ground-floor nook, leaving solely the south-end retail nook but to be claimed.
Some of 550 Madison’s 303,500 sq. toes in workplace space has been leased for more than $100 per sq. foot for the reason that pandemic. CBRE/Olayan
The tower’s leasing efficiency has been epic. Since we wrote in November 2021 that 550 Madison was thought to be a “bellwether” for the workplace market, which was struggling back from the pandemic, some 303,500 sq. toes of the places of work went for more than $100 per sq. foot — maybe the town’s highest proportion of C-note offers at a single property.
Aquarian, presently primarily based at 40 tenth Avenue in Chelsea, was based by Rudy Sahay, who beforehand co-founded real estate firm 54 Madison Partners and was a founding member of Guggenheim Partners.
The entrance to 550 Madison Ave. Getty Images
Aquarian lately fashioned a three way partnership with Raven Capital Management, a music industry investment fund.
It additionally introduced the creation of Aquarian Insurance Holdings, a shared construction for the company’s reinsurance and retail insurance coverage companies.
