A faded jewel of New York, the Chrysler Building is looking for a buyer who will revive it.

Topped with its famous stainless steel crown, adorned with gargoyles and winged helmets of Mercury - a tribute to the radiator caps of early Chrysler vehicles - it still attracts tourists who nevertheless remain confined to the ground floor since its observation platform closed in 1945.

It's not easy to stand out from the Empire State Building, which quickly stole the title of tallest building in the world (since dethroned by others), and from the handful of newer, taller Manhattan skyscrapers open to visitors.

The Chrysler Building, designed just before the 1929 crisis and built in only two years, was intended to represent exuberance and modernism, the world of machines, with its steel spire inspired by the hubcaps of the eponymous brand.

The building, which welcomed its first tenants in April 1930, rises to 318 meters and has 77 floors for 117.000 m2.

The address - 405 Lexington Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan - is prestigious and attracts law firms, liberal professions but also a large artistic agency, coworking companies, etc.

However, media outlets have reported on occupants complaining about outdated premises, peeling paint, broken elevators, unsafe water in water fountains, windows that are too small, cramped offices, encounters with rodents, etc.

"The magnificent (Chrysler building) has many technical problems," confirms Ruth Colp-Haber of Wharton Property, a commercial real estate agency. "It will require a lot of work and a lot of money," she told AFP.

With the rise in popularity of teleworking during Covid, "these old buildings can't compete with newer ones, which have high ceilings and state-of-the-art air conditioning," she explains.

Rivalry

It is therefore difficult to compete with brand new glass towers offering better amenities, such as One Vanderbilt, which opened in September 2020 just a few blocks away, or those in the revitalized Hudson Yards district.

Competition is all the more intense as New York's office real estate market is suffering from the rise of remote work post-pandemic. Rents, both commercial and residential, are particularly high in the economic capital of the United States.

Added to this is an unusual situation: the land on which the Chrysler Building is built has belonged since 1902 to Cooper Union, a school of engineering, architecture and humanities, which receives an annual rent from the building owner (20,1 million in 2018, 32,5 million from 2019 to 2027).

But the last owner, a consortium made up of the American property developer RFR and the Austrian group Signa, was expropriated by a judge in September 2024 for non-payment of rent.

The duo had acquired the property in 2019 for $151 million, with a promise to carry out $250 million worth of renovations. But Signa went bankrupt at the end of 2023.

According to court documents reviewed by AFP, RFR stopped paying in May 2024 and the arrears reached $21 million at the time of the expropriation.

"We have built up significant reserves and surpluses over the past seven years," Malcolm King, interim president of Cooper Union, said at the time in a message to employees and students.

He asserted that these real estate upheavals would not affect student grants or tuition fees.

Since then, Cooper Union has been seeking a buyer for this tower, which was designated a New York City landmark in 1978. Any interior or exterior modification must be approved by the city's Land Preservation Commission (LPC).

Meanwhile, a code of silence prevails regarding the building's future. When contacted by AFP, Cooper Union, the LPC, several real estate agents including those handling the sale, and RFR, among others, declined to comment.

"Everything is frozen pending confirmation of the new owner," says Ms. Colp-Haber, mentioning a possible partial conversion into a hotel or housing.

In any case, "it is extremely rare for the Commission to approve the demolition of a historical monument," a specialist reassured under the cover of anonymity.