Tishman Speyer Signs 150 Year Ground Lease on the Chrysler Building and Plans a $235 Million Restoration

The Chrysler Building restoration has a new steward, and a familiar one. Tishman Speyer and The Cooper Union said on 7 October 2026 that they have finalised a 150 year ground lease for William Van Alen’s Art Deco tower at 405 Lexington Avenue, under which the developer commits $235 million to the building on top of the lease payments it makes to the college.

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The ground itself does not change hands. Cooper Union has owned the plot since 1902, when Peter Cooper’s children handed it to the school as a lasting source of income, and the lease money flows directly to it at a time when the college is working to bring back full tuition scholarships for every undergraduate. Tishman Speyer already knows the building well: it owned and renovated the tower through the 1990s and sold it in 2008. This time a group of institutional investors joins it, with Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) in the lead.

What the Chrysler Building restoration covers

On the outside, the announcement promises a restored facade and a polished, renewed crown. Inside the 77 storey, 1.3 million square foot tower, the elevators and the mechanical, electrical and air handling systems will be modernised, and the cooling towers adjusted to use less energy. Many of the public interiors are protected as landmarks and will be kept.

The office floors get a prebuild approach. Instead of handing tenants empty floors to fit out, Tishman Speyer will finish ready to occupy suites across 75 percent of the space that is empty now or will become empty, a method it has already tried at 6 Grand Central next door. Renderings released with the plan show calm rooms with stone and timber floors and furniture that nods to Art Deco without copying it. No architect or interior designer had been named for the work at the time of the announcement.

A lounge among the eagles

The 61st floor, famous for the huge eagle gargoyles modelled on the hood ornament of the 1929 Plymouth, is reserved for an amenity level with a lounge, outdoor access, food and drink and room for gatherings. A second set of amenities, with fitness, wellness and meeting spaces, will go into the underground arcade.

The tower was built for the Chrysler Corporation, which kept its headquarters there for more than two decades, and its ornament borrows from car parts. At 1,046 feet it was the tallest building in the world when it opened in 1930. Its recent years were less glamorous: a 2024 New York Times report described how its condition had slipped under the previous owners.

Cooper Union president Steven W. McLaughlin said the building has for over a century “helped sustain Peter Cooper’s vision of opening access to education by removing financial barriers.” Tishman Speyer chief executive Rob Speyer said the plan comes at “a historically strong moment for the Manhattan office market”, and the announcement points to how few offices are available around Grand Central.