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New York Post, July 2, 2003

The only squabble pending at 522 Fifth Ave. is litigation between net building renters J.P. Morgan Chase and the family that owns the land, says attorney Jay Itkowitz.

JPMC was trying to sell its lease on the building but buyers found it “unfinanceable.”

Sources told us the family has since been offered and turned down around $30 million, so the bank could convey the unified but soon to be vacant property for around $230 million.

In December, J.P. Morgan was late with the quarterly rent and the family sued to terminate the lease and remove the firm from the building.

J.P. Morgan won the first round, but the Appellate Division will hear the family’s appeal this fall. Apparently, the family is unhappy with the current rent of around $1.6 million a year, which was set in the early 1990s; the next uptick isn’t scheduled until 2023.

Meanwhile, as we reported last week, the sales process is on hold for the summer.