CSFB Manhattan HQ For Sale for $800 Million?

Real Estate Finance & Investment reports that MetLife is reportedly planning to sell the hulking 2.25-million-square-foot office building at 11 Madison Ave. right next to its corporate headquarters. Jennie Morgan, a MetLife spokeswoman, said she was unaware of any sales plans for the office but sources told REFI that the Manhattan-based insurance company will kick off a sale soon. 'We've made no announcement and it is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation,' Morgan said.

The planned sale comes on the heels of Macklowe Properties planned acquisition of the GM Building in midtown for a record $1.4 billion. The 29-story office occupies an entire city block between 24th and 25th Streets and is leased long term to Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). If lease terms are attractive, 11 Madison Ave. could fetch as much as $800 million. It is unclear if MetLife has tapped a broker at this point.

(Eastdil Realty and Lehman Brothers are rumored to have been jointly awarded the listing. MetLife's 2002 10-K indicates that it has leased One Madison Ave. and the 11 Madison Ave. to CSFB, under a long-term lease. MetLife is in turn subleasing 365,000 sf in One Madison Ave. for its own use from CSFB.)

The limestone edifice, next to MetLife's 1.4-million-square-foot headquarters at One Madison Ave., was renovated and redesigned between 1994 and 1997 at a cost of approximately $300 million. It was originally known as the North Building and is connected to the company's One Madison Ave. via a sky bridge. Architects Harvey Wiley Corbett and D. Everett Waid designed the building between 1929 and 1950. Originally planned as a 100-story tower, the developer's plans were scaled back after the 1929 stock market crash.

MetLife has been shifting its employees out of 11 Madison Ave. and out of the headquarters building that once housed about 2,200 employees, relocating staff throughout metro Manhattan. It still maintains One Madison Ave. as its headquarters building. plans of that building could not be ascertained. Sphere: Related Content