Real estate developer Aby Rosen loses the Chrysler Building

January 30, 2025

Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs’ RFR Holding officially got evicted from the Chrysler Building. On Monday, a Manhattan judge terminated the company’s ground lease and ordered them to leave the building, as The Real Deal first reported.

The decision comes after RFR fell behind more than $21 million in rent and Cooper Union, which owns the land beneath the 77-story tower, moved to evict RFR in September. RFR then filed a lawsuit against the private college over Israel-Palestine protests by Cooper Union students and faculty, which Rosen claimed the school’s handling left the real estate community disturbed and drove away tenants. The judge dismissed the claim and awarded Cooper Union damages for the unpaid rent.

Rosen bought the ground lease for $151 million in 2019, a major loss for the majority owner Abu Dhabi Investment Council, which paid $800 million in 2008. The discounted price accounted for the very expensive ground lease as well as the Art Deco icon’s deteriorated condition.

Last summer, the New York Times published a story on tenants’ complaints of rodent infestations, cracked ceilings, broken elevators, and dirty drinking water.

RFR agreed to pay $32 million a year in rent with plans to renovate the building, even proposing turning it into a hotel and adding an observation deck. When the cost of the lease became too much, Rosen sought to negotiate the lease terms but a deal never moved forward. Then, in 2023, RFR’s partner on the property Signa Holding filed for bankruptcy, according to The Real Deal.

According to Cooper Union, the company stopped paying rent in June.

“RFR could never overcome the basic fact that they were in arrears to the tune of $21 million and had not paid rent in months,” John Ruth, vice president of finance and administration at Cooper Union, said in a statement, according to Curbed.

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