Chrysler Building sold at huge loss

NEW YORK - The owners of the Chrysler Building have reached a deal to sell the iconic New York City building for "a little more than US$150 million (S$204 million)", the Wall Street Journal reported.

The sale price of the tower in Manhattan, considered an Art Deco masterpiece, marks a significant loss for Emirati investment company Mubadala, which paid US$800 million for a 90 per cent stake in 2008.

Real estate group Tishman Speyer, which had bought the building outright for a reported US$210 to US$250 million in 1997, kept a 10 per cent stake.

The Journal reported the building's owners do not own the ground and pay annual rent that went up from US$7.75 million to US$32 million last year and was set to increase again to US$41 million in 2028.

Citing brokers, the newspaper said those fees "have eaten away at much if not all of the building's revenue".

The building also has some 37,160 sq m of space that is either vacant or will become so in the coming years.