The Chrysler Building Gets a $235 Million Restoration, and a Lounge Among Its Eagles
The Chrysler Building is getting its first full overhaul in a generation. On October 7, Tishman Speyer and The Cooper Union, which owns the land under the tower, finalized a 150-year ground lease, and Tishman Speyer committed $235 million to restore the 1930 skyscraper and rework its offices, on top of the ground rent it will pay the school.
What the money buys
The part New York will see is the restoration. The facade is being restored, and William Van Alen's stainless-steel crown polished and renewed. Behind it, the mechanical, elevator, electrical and air-handling systems are being modernized, and the cooling towers reworked to use less energy.
The 61st floor, where the steel eagles project from the corners of the tower, becomes an indoor-outdoor amenity floor with a lounge, food and drink, and room to gather beside the eagles. Below the street, the arcade gets fitness, wellness and meeting space. Upstairs, Tishman Speyer will prebuild ready-to-occupy suites across 75 percent of the space that is vacant now or about to be.
Tishman Speyer is repositioning the tower as a boutique office building with a hospitality program. Rob Speyer, the company's chief executive, pointed to The Spiral and Rockefeller Center as the models, and said the company was glad to lead the building's next chapter and give tenants a workplace they can be proud of.
Why Cooper Union matters here
The Cooper Union has owned the ground beneath the tower since 1902, when Peter Cooper's children gave it to the school. Its president, Steven W. McLaughlin, tied the lease to the school's plan to restore full-tuition scholarships for every undergraduate. John Ruth, who oversees the school's finances, said Tishman Speyer was the clear leader among the competing proposals.
The new lease follows the end of the last one: a New York court terminated RFR's lease over unpaid ground rent, and RFR was removed from the building. It is also a return. Tishman Speyer first took control of the Chrysler Building in the late 1990s and sold a 90 percent stake in 2008.
PSP Investments leads a group of institutional investors in the deal, which is funded entirely with equity. Simon Marc, who heads private equity and real estate at PSP, called the tower one of the best-known landmarks in the world.
The building
The tower stands at 405 Lexington Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets: 77 stories, 1,046 feet tall, 1.3 million square feet inside, with a direct connection to Grand Central. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1978.
What is not settled
Tishman Speyer has not named an architect or preservation firm for the work, published a construction schedule, or said whether the 61st floor will be open to anyone other than tenants.
