A world holding firm with $22 billion in managed property has claimed what may 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 Verify has discovered.
It brings the 750,000 square-foot trophy to about 96% leased.
Olayan purchased the pink granite tower for $1.4 billion in 2016 when it was vacant and upgraded it for no less than $300 million extra. The corporate redesigned the lower-floors facade and enlarged retail home windows underneath the watchful eye of the Landmarks Preservation Fee. The workplace flooring and foyer had been comprehensively re-imagined and techniques re-tooled for twenty first century tenants.
The repositioning additionally features a new, block-long, glass-canopied pedestrian arcade and backyard between East fifty fifth and East 56th streets.
The Philip Johnson- and John Burgee-designed constructing is dwelling to marquee-name tenants together with Chubb Ltd., which was the primary to signal on for 240,000 sq. ft; personal fairness agency Clayton Dubilier & Rice, with 144,000 sq. ft; and Hermes for its 72,000 square-foot US headquarters.
A supply mentioned solely the 22d flooring and a small prebuilt part of the thirty fourth flooring stay obtainable.
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.
The tower’s leasing efficiency has been epic. Since we wrote in November 2021 that 550 Madison was considered a “bellwether” for the workplace market, which was struggling again from the pandemic, some 303,500 sq. ft of the places of work went for greater than $100 per sq. foot — maybe town’s highest proportion of C-note offers at a single property.
Aquarian, at the moment primarily based at 40 tenth Avenue in Chelsea, was based by Rudy Sahay, who beforehand co-founded actual property agency 54 Madison Companions and was a founding member of Guggenheim Companions.
Aquarian just lately shaped a three way partnership with Raven Capital Administration, a music business funding fund.
It additionally introduced the creation of Aquarian Insurance coverage Holdings, a shared construction for the corporate’s reinsurance and retail insurance coverage companies.
