Last month, The Real Deal learned that syndicator David Werner has teamed up with Deutsche Bank Asset Management and Alexandria Real Estate Equities to acquire two adjacent office buildings that currently serve as the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The consortium paid $365 million for the pair of Modernist buildings located at 219 and 235 East 42nd Street, between Second and Third avenues. The complex spans a total of 1.1 million square feet with the taller, corner building rising 33 floors. Together, the properties can be redeveloped into a substantially larger building, largely due to the approval of the Midtown East rezoning earlier this year.
The rendering above, created by MOTIV Studio, shows just what an enlarged tower might look like. The view looks west down 42nd Street with the Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt in the background. The depicted tower rises approximately 45 stories tall and could stretch 800 feet high due to the ceiling heights necessary in modern-day office buildings.
In preparation for its move out of its long-time digs, the pharmaceutical giant announced in April that it has pre-leased 800,000 square feet of space in "The Spiral", a 2.85-million-square-foot skyscraper under construction at 66 Hudson Yards. The mammoth, 65-floor tower is being developed by Tishman Speyer Properties and designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. It is expected to open in 2022, just in time for when Pfizer's newly-signed lease in its former 42nd Street buildings expires.