Park Avenue Tower
65 East 55th Street | also 68 East 56th Street, 75 East 55th Street | Midtown | built 1986
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1986
Park Avenue Tower is conceived as a building-within-a-building for IBM, its original anchor tenant
The office tower at 65 East 55th Street is completed in 1986 as a "building-within-a-building" designed for IBM, which becomes its original anchor tenant. Commercial Observer reported in 2013 that the property measured 615,857 square feet and that its owner, Shorenstein, had begun quietly exploring a sale of its stake.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 1986
Murphy/Jahn's postmodern Park Avenue Tower opens
Murphy/Jahn Architects designed the 36-story, 561-foot office tower, which Park Tower Realty developed. Its floor plan is a square whose corners are flattened, and the tower tapers toward the top. A pyramid-shaped structure on the roof cannot be seen from the street. The exterior combines stone, steel, and glass.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2005
The restaurant Aquavit moves to 65 East 55th Street after 17 years on West 54th Street
Aquavit, the Scandinavian restaurant that Hakan Swahn opened in 1987, relocates in 2005 after 17 years at 13 West 54th Street. It now operates at 65 East 55th Street, and Marcus Samuelsson had become its chef in 1995. The Michelin Guide awarded it two stars from 2015 through 2023.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2008
Macklowe sells the tower to Shorenstein for $930 million amid the credit crisis
Macklowe Properties had bought Park Avenue Tower in 2007 from Blackstone Group, as part of a $7 billion purchase of six buildings. In the summer of 2008, as Macklowe struggled during the credit crisis, it sold the tower and 850 Third Avenue to Shorenstein Properties for $930 million. The tower sold again in 2014 and 2025.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2014
Blackstone agrees to buy the tower for $750 million after a bid by Australia's Grocon collapses
In 2014 Blackstone agrees to buy Park Avenue Tower from Shorenstein for $750 million. An earlier $775 million deal with the Australian developer Grocon had collapsed in April, when Grocon could not raise the money. Blackstone had briefly owned the building in 2007, when it took over Equity Office Properties and then quickly passed the property and six other office buildings to Harry Macklowe.
Source: nypost.com
- 2014
Paul Hastings confirms it will leave 75 East 55th Street for the MetLife Building
On September 8, 2014, attorneys confirm that the law firm Paul Hastings will move out of 75 East 55th Street and into the MetLife Building. Law360 reports that the firm is shrinking its footprint to improve efficiency and collaboration, and describes the new office as smaller and tech-focused.
Source: law360.com
- 2025
SL Green goes under contract to buy Park Avenue Tower from Blackstone for $730 million
In October 2025, Blackstone's EQ Office, now called Perform Properties, goes under contract to sell the 36-story tower to SL Green for $730 million, close to the $750 million it paid in 2014. Commercial Observer notes that the owner had spent $25 million on a renovation after anchor tenant Paul Hastings left, and that Reinsurance Group of America leased space in August 2025 for its first New York office.
Source: commercialobserver.com
Further reading
- Park Avenue TowerWikipedia
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