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Y&R seeks buyer for Madison Avenue office tower
Tower was site of elevator tragedy that killed ad exec last winter
Young & Rubicam has put the Madison Avenue tower where an elevator malfunction killed an employee on the market, the New York Post reported. The move was expected for months, as the advertising firm prepares to move into Joseph Moinian’s 3 Columbus Circle over the next 18 months. At the time of last December’s tragedy, insiders speculated that the incident would be an obstacle to the sales effort of the building.
Another obstacle in the effort to sell the 285 Madison Avenue, for which Young & Rubicam tapped Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan of CBRE Group, is that the 550,000-square-foot tower, between East 40th and East 41st streets, will be essentially vacant. Still, the building could trade for more than $150 million, somewhere in the low-$300s per square-foot.
The building is located within the Midtown East rezoning area, which could eventually unlock an extra 50,000 square feet of air rights. But the Post said a buyer’s focus would likely be on upgrading 30,000 square feet of retail on the bottom two-floors of the 28-story structure. It could become a hotel or a hotel-condominium. [Post, 1st item]