A Chrysler Building restoration is finally on the way. On 7 October 2026 the developer Tishman Speyer and The Cooper Union, the college that owns the land beneath the Manhattan tower, signed a 150-year ground lease that includes a $235 million investment to restore the facade, renew the crown and rebuild the offices inside. It ends two years in which William Van Alen's 1930 skyscraper had no leaseholder able to pay its rent.
Key takeaways
- The deal: a 150-year ground lease, with $235 million of investment plus ground rent to Cooper Union. Tishman Speyer leads a group of institutional investors headed by Canada's PSP Investments, using equity only, with no debt.
- The restoration: the facade is restored and the crown polished and renewed; mechanical, electrical, elevator and air-handling systems are modernised, and the cooling towers are tuned for energy efficiency.
- New uses: the 61st floor, the level of the steel eagles, becomes a lounge with outdoor space; a fitness, wellness and meeting suite goes into the underground arcade.
- Why a college cares: the ground rent supports Cooper Union, home of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, which aims to make undergraduate study tuition-free again by 2028–29.
What happened: the Chrysler Building ground lease
Cooper Union announced the agreement on Wednesday 7 October. Tishman Speyer takes the building on a 150-year lease; the land stays with the college, which was given it by Peter Cooper's children in 1902 and treats it as a permanent source of income. Neither side disclosed the annual rent. A Tishman Speyer representative declined to comment on it to The Real Deal, which noted that a previous college financial statement had expected the ground rent to reach $41 million within two years.
For Tishman Speyer it is a return. The firm bought the building in 1997 for $220 million and sold its stake in stages, including a 2008 sale that valued the tower at $800 million. In 2019 the building went to RFR and Signa Holding for about $150 million. Then it came apart. According to Bisnow, the ground rent had escalated from $7.8 million in 2018 to a high of $32.5 million, Signa filed for insolvency in November 2023, and the leaseholders stopped paying. Cooper Union began eviction proceedings in September 2024, and a judge sided with the college the following January. 6sqft reports that RFR's countersuit was dismissed, and that tenants had complained of rodents, cracked ceilings and broken elevators.
The college ran a competitive process. "Tishman Speyer emerged as the clear leader," said John Ruth, Cooper Union's vice president of finance and administration. Rob Speyer, Tishman Speyer's chief executive, called it "a historically strong moment for the Manhattan office market".
The building: a car company's crown
The Chrysler Building was designed by William Van Alen for the Chrysler Corporation, which kept its headquarters there for more than two decades. At 1,046 ft it was the world's tallest building when it opened in 1930, and 6sqft notes that it held the title only until the Empire State Building opened the following year. Its decoration comes from the car: the eagles on the 61st floor were modelled on the hood ornament of the 1929 Plymouth, and the lobby once held a car showroom.
The crown is the part everyone knows: stacked tiers of stainless-steel arches, each pierced by triangular windows, stepping up to the spire. Seen up close, as in the photograph above, it is less a smooth metal hat than a scaled, ribbed surface, closer to a radiator grille than a dome. "Polishing and renewal" of that crown is written into the plan.
Why the Chrysler Building restoration matters
Most landmark stories are about saving a building from demolition. This one is about saving a building from neglect, and the threat was financial. A protected tower can still decay if no one can afford to run it. The Chrysler Building's problem was a lease whose rent had climbed faster than the building's income, so its leaseholders stopped investing and then stopped paying. The Thompson Center redesign in Chicago was rescued by a new owner with a new use; here the use stays the same, and the rescue is a new owner with enough money to make the old use pay.
The plan is also a bet on a type of office. Tishman Speyer will prebuild 75% of the current and upcoming vacant space as ready-to-move-in suites, aimed at smaller tenants, and calls the result a "boutique office building". How much is vacant depends on whom you ask: The Real Deal cites a CoStar vacancy rate of 14% at the start of the year, while Cooper Union's broker, David Heller of Savills, told Bisnow roughly half the building was empty. Either way, the strategy is the one landlords are using across Midtown, where the best towers are nearly full: give tenants character and amenities a new glass tower can't.
The open question is what happens to the interiors in the process. Prebuilt suites mean new partitions, ceilings and services, floor after floor. The famous parts of a landmark are its crown and its lobby, but the office floors are where the building's working life is, and where careful design will decide whether "boutique" means more than new carpet. The 61st-floor lounge raises the same question at the top: a terrace among the eagles will be a remarkable room, but it is for tenants. The plan does not mention any public access to the upper floors.
From the studio
There is a school inside this story. Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture belongs to a college whose undergraduates paid no tuition until 2014, when it began charging half, and the land under the Chrysler Building has long been one of its permanent sources of income. A spokesperson told amNY that the lease is "a positive step" towards full-tuition scholarships again by 2028–29, "although it is not, on its own, the total solution". It is an unusual line from a skyscraper to a studio desk: when the tower fails to pay, architecture students pay instead. More on studio life is in the Journal's Architecture School section.
What's next
- Now: Tishman Speyer takes over from Cushman & Wakefield, which had managed the building since the RFR lease ended. Heller told Bisnow the partners plan to start work immediately.
- Next: facade and crown restoration, systems upgrades, prebuilt suites, the 61st-floor lounge and the arcade amenity floor. No schedule, architect or designer has been announced.
- 2028–29: Cooper Union's target year for restoring full-tuition scholarships for all undergraduates.
More preservation stories are under the Journal's preservation tag, including the Cinerama Dome reopening in Hollywood, and the latest stories are in News.
FAQ
Who owns the Chrysler Building?
The Cooper Union owns the land under the Chrysler Building, and has since 1902. From October 2026 the building itself is held by Tishman Speyer and its investors, led by PSP Investments, on a 150-year ground lease.
Who owns the land under the Chrysler Building?
The land under the Chrysler Building belongs to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a private college in Manhattan. Peter Cooper's children gave it to the college in 1902 as a permanent source of income.
What is the Chrysler Building used for?
The Chrysler Building is an office tower, built as the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation. Tishman Speyer plans to keep it as offices, with prebuilt suites, a tenant lounge on the 61st floor and amenity space in the underground arcade.
Sources
- Tishman Speyer and The Cooper Union finalize ground lease agreement and revitalization plan for the Chrysler BuildingThe Cooper Union
- Tishman Speyer secures Chrysler Building returnThe Real Deal
- Tishman Speyer signs Chrysler Building ground lease with Cooper UnionBisnow
- Chrysler Building will get major revamp under new owner6sqft
- Chrysler Building to get makeover, helping nearby universityamNY
- The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture: AboutThe Cooper Union
