399 Park Avenue
| Company type | Commercial office building |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | Midtown Manhattan, New York City |
| Owner | Boston Properties |
399 Park Avenue is a 41-story commercial tower situated on the block bordered by Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue, as well as 53rd Street and 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan area of New York City. From 1961, when the company transitioned from its previous location at 55 Wall Street, until 2015, it functioned as the worldwide headquarters for Citigroup. In 2015, Citigroup moved its main offices to 388 Greenwich Street.
History
The land was originally consolidated by Vincent Astor, who envisioned a 46-story structure named Astor Plaza. The process of assembling the site was delayed due to holdouts, including a pharmacy that refused to sell. In 1974, Citigroup inaugurated an annex, the Citigroup Center, located across Lexington Avenue. In 1987, Citigroup divested one-third of its ownership in 399 Park Avenue and two-thirds of its interest in Citigroup Center to Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company for $670 million. This transaction coincided with relocating a significant portion of its staff to One Court Square in Queens, although Citigroup maintained occupancy on the lower levels of 399 Park Avenue. Subsequently, Citigroup reacquired its previous holdings.
Boston Properties purchased the building in 2002 for $1.06 billion, outbidding competitors such as Brookfield Properties, Equity Office Properties, and Vornado Realty Trust. The acquisition price set a new benchmark at over $630 per square foot for office properties at that time. Boston Properties also secured ownership of the adjacent Citigroup Center. Citigroup continued leasing its headquarters space from Boston Properties until 2017. After the events of the September 11 attacks, investment bank Lehman Brothers leased space at 399 Park Avenue until its bankruptcy in 2008. Previous occupants have included law firms like Caplin & Drysdale and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, which later moved to other notable locations within New York City.
In December 2013, Citigroup revealed intentions to relocate its global headquarters to the Tribeca area at 388 and 390 Greenwich Street, a property acquired from SL Green Realty in 2016.
Tenants
- Avenue Capital Group
- Brigade Capital Management, occupying the 15th and 16th floors
- BentallGreenOak
- Blue Owl, leaseholder
- Citigroup, with a renewed lease covering 500,000 square feet
- Colony NorthStar
- Cyrus Capital Partners
- C.V. Starr & Co., undergoing expansion and lease renewal
- Jordan Company
- Lexington Partners, situated on the 20th and 21st floors
- Millennium Management, LLC
- Moelis & Company
- Peterson Management
- PineBridge Investments
- Robins Kaplan LLP
- Savills Studley, located on the 5th and 11th floors