The future of New York City's iconic Chrysler Building is uncertain after its co-owner Signa Holding was ordered on Tuesday by an Austrian court to sell its stake in the skyscraper as part of an insolvency proceeding.
The Vienna-based real estate company was ordered to liquidate its private jet, media investments and the 77-story Chrysler Building, local media reported.
Signa Holding, helmed by former billionaire René Benko, filed for insolvency in November. It has now become the largest bankruptcy case in Austrian history with 43 creditors having registered claims amounting to about 1.13 billion euros ($1.2 billion), Austria's public broadcaster ORF reported.
Singa Holding and its insolvency administrator did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Messenger.
Signa Holding owns 50% of the Chrysler Building, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The company, along with New York developer RFR Holding, bought the art deco skyscraper in 2019 for $150 million.
Prior to the insolvency proceeding, the two companies had been working on plans to significantly upgrade the building including adding windows and renovating its retail space, the Journal reported. Now, it's unclear if the court order will result in the sale of the entire building.Signa Holding and RFR Holding have also recently attempted to renegotiate their deal with the Cooper Union school, which owns the land the building sits on. The annual rent price the school charged rose from $7.75 million to $32.5 million in 2018 and is scheduled to rise to $41 million in 2028, according to the Journal.
The news comes as office vacancy rates remain high following the pandemic. In the third quarter of 2023, the vacancy rate for offices in Manhattan reached 22%, according to the real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. In the decade preceding 2020, the vacancy rate in Manhattan was consistently below 13%.
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