In May 2023, the ORF report showed the Chrysler Building from an eagle’s perspective, an architectural gem with which Rene Benko prepared in 2019 to take a first step into the land of supposedly limitless possibilities. Four years later, it’s not just the department store juggler who has landed on the hard ground of real estate reality, as a local Krone inspection reveals.
Mid-May 2023, New York City: The Chrysler Building, 319 meters high and known worldwide for its width, has not really lost its luster under its new owners (Benko’s Signa Group and a company owned by German-American Aby Rosen). Not even from the inside. On the ground floor, right next to one of the monumental entrance gates, there is a shabby-looking large room in which the light seems to go out quickly – at least it only flickers (see video above!).
“High Risk Business”
Benko and Co. had big plans for the striking Art Deco building, a monumental building on land that is still owned by an American university. But shortly after acquiring the building rights, real estate insiders expressed doubts about profitability. “I would describe the purchase as a risky venture,” the “Kleine Zeitung” quoted expert Thomas Guss, who also said the $150 million purchase was anything but a bargain: “It was checked by many funds and classified as very expensive .” This has to do with the fact that the annual lease amounted to “32.7 million euros” in 2018 and “according to agreement with the landowners, would continue to rise sharply.” The “Spiegel” also reported at the time, citing a scene expert in New York, that the Chrysler was a “single, big tenant scare.”
Many available surfaces
In the most recent reckoning with the Tyrolean newspaper (“Has the Benko bubble burst?”), the harsh investigators of Germany’s largest news magazine reported that “entire floors” were empty in the Chrysler Building. This impression coincides with findings that the Krone recently made in the Big Apple. Around the building – in the middle of Manhattan – there is widespread advertising for available office space in the skyscraper, which was built in 1930 and seems to have fallen out of date 93 years later. In any case, the architectural gem can no longer be described as a pure jewelry box — real estate professionals would probably try to market one or the other room in the Chrysler Building as a hobby hit.
Between wish and reality
Shortly after the high-profile deal in 2019, a former Signa Group board member stated, “We are acquiring a legend – for us, this is more than just a first, strategically important step into the US real estate market – it is a milestone.” And Benko’s co-investor Aby Rosen was quoted as saying, “Together we want to preserve the Chrysler Building for the long term and develop it back into one of the top addresses in Manhattan.” noticed.
Incidentally, Alfred Gusenbauer holds important supervisory directorships at both Signa and Strabag as president. Strabag founder Hans Peter Haselsteiner is a major investor in Signa. The Raiffeisen banking group, which according to “Spiegel” would have lent the Signa group a total of about two billion euros, is considered Signa’s main lender in Austria. Media holding companies such as the Kurier also belong to the Raiffeisen empire.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
