Olayan Group Signs Chubb As First Tenant At Former Sony Building
Insurance firm Chubb has agreed to lease 10 floors at 550 Madison Ave., the first company to sign onto the building since its multimillion-dollar renovation.
Chubb signed a lease for 240K SF in the 800K SF building, building owner Olayan Group announced Thursday. The Chubb lease takes more than 30% of the building’s rentable office space, per the release.
Until this deal, there was a total of 750K SF on offer at the building — where the U.S. arm of Saudia Arabia-based Olayan brought on RXR Realty as a development partner — making it one of the properties in Manhattan with the biggest blocks of space to rent.
Olayan and RXR are pursuing LEED Platinum and WELL Gold certifications for the renovation, and claim to have saved 75% of their construction waste on the project, using 50% wood-based materials.
“550 Madison is unlike any building in New York, combining the single healthiest office environment in the city with globally recognized landmark architecture,” Olayan America Head of Real Estate Erik Horvat said. “We pride ourselves on creating world-class spaces that inspire leadership and creativity, and we are proud to welcome Chubb — a company that shares those values — as our anchor tenant.”
Rents were not disclosed, but the New York Post reported the deal was imminent in August and said the price was expected to be above $100 per SF. Chubb is currently at Durst Organization’s 1133 Sixth Ave., where the company is leasing 184K SF, according to The Real Deal, and paying $88.82 per SF gross rent.
A partnership led by Joseph Chetrit sold the 37-story property to Olayan for $1.4B back in 2016 after deciding against pursuing plans for a luxury condo conversion. Perella Weinberg was said to be looking to move to 550 Madison back in 2019, though that never came to fruition. The building is the city's youngest landmark after Olayan secured that designation in 2018.
