Chrysler Building may soon have Amazon as a tenant

It’s been a big week for the Chrysler Building: Amid news that the 89-year-old Art Deco landmark is now looking for a buyer, it’s also apparently due to gain a major new retail tenant. The New York Post reports that Amazon is close to finalizing a lease for 10,000 square feet at the building’s high-profile location at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue.

The deal hasn’t been finalized yet, per the Post, but if it is, it would bring the number of physical Amazon stores in New York City—including Amazon Books locations on 34th Street and in the Shops at Columbus Circle, a pop-up at the Queens Center mall, and a new 4-star location in Soho—up to five.

It would also be a big win for the Chrysler Building, which—despite its landmark status and reputation as one of NYC’s most beautiful buildings—is facing headwinds when it comes to attracting tenants, thanks to the competition from new and shiny office buildings throughout the city. (One of those competitors, One Vanderbilt, is located just a few blocks from the iconic tower.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, the skyscraper’s owners—the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and developer Tishman Speyer—are now seeking buyers, and have hired CBRE to market the building. But its age and landmark status could work against it; “a number of real-estate investors” told the WSJ that it may not be worth the $800 million that the Abu Dhabi firm paid for its 90 percent stake back in 2008.

The Post reports that a deal could also include the pyramid-shaped Philip Johnson-designed retail pavilion next to the building, known as the Chrysler Trylons; that structure is currently home to an outpost of the Capital Grille, and it comes with as much as 70,000 square feet of unused air rights.

• Amazon nears deal to lease space in the Chrysler Building [NYP]
• Chrysler Building, a Famed Slice of Manhattan Skyline, Is on the Block [WSJ]