Olayan Group inks investment firm to 144k sf lease at 550 Madison

Chalk up another bit of evidence for the flight-to-quality theory.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice, a private investment advisory firm, signed a 144,000-square-foot lease at Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Avenue, where it plans to occupy six floors, more than doubling its footprint in a relocation from the Seagram Building.

The 41-story, 800,000-square-foot Midtown building, between East 55th and East 56th streets, recently underwent a roughly $300 million renovation. An architectural publication once deemed it “one of Manhattan’s quirkiest towers.”

The lease details, including the length and asking rent, were not disclosed in Olayan’s announcement, but Crain’s reported that the annual asking rent would have been around $150 per square foot. Commercial Observer reported that the lease runs for more than 10 years.

Other tenants in the building, which Olayan renovated with Scott Rechler’s RXR, include global insurance giant Chubb Limited, which has a 10-floor, 240,000-square-foot lease; luxury brand Hermès, which has a 72,000-square-foot headquarters lease; advisory firm Junto Capital, which occupies 25,000 square feet, and investment firm Corsair Capital, which leases 4,000.

The new tenant has a broad business stretching from health care, technology, and financial services. It started in 1978 and has invested more than $40 billion in over 100 companies.

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First tenant at Olayan Group’s 550 Madison takes 240K sf