The Olayan Group today announced that private investment advisory firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has signed an approximately 144,000-square-foot lease at 550 Madison Avenue, the landmarked office building located between East 55th and 56th streets in Midtown Manhattan.
CD&R will occupy six floors – 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 26 – at 550 Madison, more than doubling its footprint in a relocation from the Seagram Building.
CD&R is a private investment firm with a strategy predicated on building stronger, more profitable businesses across a broad range of industries, including Industrials, Healthcare, Business Services, Consumer, Technology and Financial Services. Since its inception in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $40 billion in over 100 companies with an aggregate transaction value of more than $175 billion.
Globally recognized for its postmodernist architecture, 550 Madison is a 41-story, approximately 800,000-square-foot office tower that had recently completed a comprehensive repositioning. The tower now offers dynamic multi-tenant office space with market-leading amenities and sustainable features.
“CD&R shares our vision of what a modern office space should be – sustainable and forward-thinking, with an emphasis on hospitality – and we could not be more excited to welcome them to 550 Madison,” said Erik Horvat, Head of Real Estate at Olayan America.
The Olayan Group has engaged Michelin-starred restaurateur Simon Kim to bring a new 15,000-square-foot restaurant concept to the base of 550 Madison. Other leases include a 10- floor, 240,000-square-foot lease with global insurance giant Chubb Limited; a three-floor, 72,000-square-foot headquarters lease with luxury brand Hermès; a 25,000-square-foot lease with investment advisory firm Junto Capital and a 24,000-square-foot lease with specialist investment firm Corsair Capital LP.
The Garden at 550 Madison is East Midtown’s largest new green space in decades, filled with abundant seating, lush vegetation and three kiosks offering local, artisanal food. The public space is almost twice its former size, welcoming area workers, neighbors and visitors.
Rockwell Group designed an exclusive space for tenants on the building’s club level, known as The Arch, which offers a thoughtful series of amenities that seamlessly transition between work, leisure and retreat. The space is complemented by the artwork of 14 notable female artists from around the world. Rockwell also designed a fitness and wellness center that will be programmed by FitLore, a holistic wellness provider for top luxury residential buildings.
550 Madison boasts 14-foot-high ceilings; large, column-free floor plates; north, south, east, and west-facing views of New York City; river to river sightlines; and offices overlooking Central Park. The LEED-platinum building also offers extensive sustainability features, including a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS), which infuses the building with abundant, fresh, purified outdoor air, improving both health and productivity.
