The disastrous finances of the American International Group might finally weigh on the Manhattan real estate market. The insurer is considering vacating its 800,000-square-foot lease at 180 Maiden Lane, Bloomberg News reported, a 1.2 million-square-foot tower owned by SL Green Realty and the Moinian Group. AIG has cut its workforce by more than half, to 57,000, in the last three years and has begun selling units in an effort to pay back the $182.3 billion taxpayer bailout it accepted during the financial crisis.
About 2,000 employees remain in the tower, and they could be moved nearby to 175 Water Street, which the insurance giant owns. AIG sold its former headquarters, at 70 Pine Street, to Youngwoo Associates in 2009. It has since been sold to Metro Loft Management.
Though no final decisions have been made, the impact of AIG’s potential departure is not lost on the building’s owners. “Our attention is certainly on 180,” SL Green President Andrew Mathias said in a conference call yesterday. “We’re actively exploring the possibilities of both a redevelopment of the asset and bringing it to the market for new tenants.” [Bloomberg News]