Tishman Speyer’s recent acquisition of the leasehold for the Chrysler Building from Cooper Union, along with a substantial $235 million investment, suggests a positive direction for this historical structure that has faced challenges over the years.
However, last week’s announcements didn’t cover what’s next for the Trylons located at 145-155 E. 42nd Street. These prominent structures, part of what used to be known as “Chrysler Center,” were designed by Philip Johnson and constructed just before 9/11 during Tishman Speyer’s previous leasehold tenure, which ended in 2019.
The Trylons previously housed the Capital Grille steakhouse but have been closed for a few years now.
Aby Rosen, the ABR developer who managed the Chrysler Building lease until early last year, mentioned he purchased the Trylons directly from Cooper Union and had intentions to replace them with a new building spanning 100,000 square feet.
Currently, Gabriel Rosen from RFR indicated that the Trylons are now on the market and attracting significant interest due to their development potential. A.J. Camhi, representing Rosen, has not yet responded to inquiries about this.
In the meantime, both Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street storefronts in the Chrysler Building remain mostly vacant, aside from a Chase bank branch, which is a bit disheartening.
One can only hope that Tishman Speyer, known for its management of Rockefeller Center and expertise in attracting retail, will prioritize revamping the Chrysler tower’s shops rather than treating it as a secondary concern during renovation. The overall appearance at sidewalk level around the busy Lexington/42nd Street intersection is pretty dismal. Besides the nearly empty storefronts at Chrysler, the scaffold-covered retail spaces across at the Chanin Building and in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which may be gearing up for redevelopment, add to the uninviting landscape.
These conspicuous vacant spaces, including significant gaps between Second and Lexington Avenues and further north near the Waldorf-Astoria, continue to mar the sidewalks, all despite optimistic retail outlook reports from top brokerage firms.
Interestingly, third-quarter retail reports from CBRE and JLL highlight thriving “premier” shopping corridors while neglecting certain streets where large, empty storefronts persist oddly unoccupied.
That said, Madison Avenue between 59th and 72nd Streets, as well as much of Soho, appear to have minimal vacancies. There’s been a notable rise in both asking and achieved rental rates across the board.
The surveys disclosed substantial deals that hadn’t been noted before — UGG at 620 Fifth Ave., Casa Carmen at 437 Madison Ave., and Crunch Fitness taking over the long-vacant site of Marshall’s at 2192 Broadway.
The largest single deal for the quarter was TJ Maxx securing a lease for 29,000 square feet at 150 E. 86th St., previously home to H&M. Additionally, Upper East Side residents may be pleased to know that Cotton On will occupy a nearly 10,000 square-foot vacancy at 1149 Third Ave. at East 68th St.
Yet, as anyone walking around can attest, the leasing enthusiasm reported by CBRE and JLL isn’t consistent across all areas.
