Cooper Union Marketing Chrysler Building Ground Lease

With Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding nowhere to be seen (except next door, perhaps), Cooper Union is ready to cash in at the Chrysler Building.

The college and owner of the historic building tapped Savills to help market the ground lease at 405 Lexington Avenue, The Promote reported. The move comes mere months after RFR was unceremoniously booted from the property.

Cooper Union could be hoping a number of avenues open up for it on the open market. It could find a tenant willing to provide a big lump sum upfront or one willing to engage in a more traditional lease. Regardless, whatever company comes in will have plenty of work to do on the property.

“Given the strength of the leasing market and given where this sits in the market, we feel it’s a great opportunity to reimagine what is the crown jewel of the New York City skyline,” Savills’ David Heller told the Commercial Observer.

Drama has dogged the Chrysler Building in recent months, culminating in a judge’s decision in January that terminated RFR’s ground lease at the property, ejecting it from the skyscraper.

RFR sued Cooper Union in September after the school moved to terminate the company’s ground lease. Cooper Union claimed the company stopped paying rent in June and racked up arrears to the tune of $21 million.

Rosen bought the ground lease of the landmark office tower for $151 million in 2019, planning to revamp the building. But the cost of the lease payments proved problematic, especially in light of the pandemic and the 2023 bankruptcy of RFR’s partner, Austria real estate investor Signa Holding.

Current tenants include law firm Moses & Singer, Creative Artists Agency and architect Ted Moudis. The vacancy in the building is roughly 15 percent.

Rosen eyed converting part of the property into a hotel, but never crossed the finish line on that dream. The property today is managed by Cushman & Wakefield.

— Holden Walter-Warner