Three billionaire magnates – Citadel’s Ken Griffin, Vornado’s Steven Roth and Rudin Management’s William Rudin – are investing their mega-dollars in the longer term of the Big Apple.
The trio has formed a three way partnership that can give Citadel room for growth in town and introduce an iconic latest office tower on Midtown Park Avenue – despite predictions that working from home will make offices obsolete.
“We expect we have seen the height of working from home,” Roth said Tuesday during Vornado’s first-quarter earnings report.
“With each passing week, the office buildings look more and more like 2019. We consider that it is barely a matter of time before everyone seems to be back for good,” he added.
As reported in the Vornado Earnings Report, Citadel took a 10-year “master” lease on 350 Park Ave. real estate company that has 585,000 square feet.
Rent starts at $35 million a yr, or $61.50 per square foot – and will increase at an undisclosed rate over time.
The master deal means tenants currently occupying the constructing pays rent to Citadel.
The deal doesn’t include a period of free rent, unlike many in today’s weak market.
While Griffin moved the Citadel headquarters from Chicago to Miami due to crime in the Windy City and the standard of life crisis, the deal shows he is not done with Manhattan yet.
![Citadel CEO Ken Griffin](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010511079.jpg?w=1024)
![Vornado CEO Steven Roth](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010511078.jpg?w=1024)
The Citadel also leased the adjoining 390,000 square foot Rudin 40 E. 52nd St. Terms haven’t been disclosed.
Each buildings are expected to be vacated of non-Citadel tenants inside 10 years to be demolished for a latest 1.7 million square foot super-tall skyscraper.
Vornado and Rudin also buy a small constructing round the corner, 39 E. 51st St., for $40 million to expand space for a cloudbuster where Griffin would lease a minimum of half the space.
The deal gives Griffin the choice to buy out each Vornado and Rudin for a combined $1.4 billion by June 2030 and construct the tower himself.
Real estate corporations can even ask Griffin to buy their stake for $1.2 billion.
Citadel already leases a significant amount of space at 425 Park Ave., where it’s the major tenant, and at 350 Park.
![350 Park Avenue](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010511726.jpg?w=1024)
![William Rudin](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010511093.jpg?w=1024)
CBRE’s tri-state CEO Mary Ann Tighe – who doesn’t represent either Citadel or the developers on the positioning – said their plans “strengthen New York City’s two foundations.”
“When the federal government creates a smart, targeted, commercially viable real estate program for developers – in other words, a carrot, not a stick – positive results come quickly,” she said, referring to the brand new East Midtown zoning that enables for larger structures than in the past in exchange for improvements to the general public sphere.
“[And] when employers experience the ambition, diversity, creativity and concentration of the New York workforce, they select to thrive here. Nobody is moving to New York to spend more time on the beach,” Tighe added.
Meanwhile, Griffin’s plan for a $1 billion Miami skyscraper seemed to gain momentum recently as he ditched the project’s original developer and is on the lookout for one other.