550 Madison Ave. — maybe Midtown’s most coveted office location — now nearly 100% leased

A global holding company with $22 billion in managed assets has claimed what might be Midtown’s most coveted, crown-jewel office location.

Aquarian Holdings LP signed a lease with landlord Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Ave. for the landmarked “Chippendale” tower’s 75,000 square-foot, three-level penthouse, Realty Check has learned.

It brings the 750,000 square-foot trophy to about 96% leased.

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Olayan bought the pink granite tower for $1.4 billion in 2016 when it was vacant and upgraded it for at least $300 million more. The company redesigned the lower-floors facade and enlarged retail windows under the watchful eye of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The office floors and lobby were comprehensively re-imagined and systems re-tooled for 21st century tenants.

The repositioning also includes a new, block-long, glass-canopied pedestrian arcade and garden between East 55th and East 56th streets.

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The Philip Johnson- and John Burgee-designed building is home to marquee-name tenants including Chubb Ltd., which was the first to sign on for 240,000 square feet; private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, with 144,000 square feet; and Hermes for its 72,000 square-foot US headquarters.

A source said only the 22d floor and a small prebuilt section of the 34th floor remain available.

On the retail side, Simon Kim’s Gracious Hospitality Group leased 550 Madison’s northern ground-floor corner, leaving only the south-end retail corner yet to be claimed.

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The tower’s leasing performance has been epic. Since we wrote in November 2021 that 550 Madison was regarded as a “bellwether” for the office market, which was struggling back from the pandemic, some 303,500 square feet of the offices went for more than $100 per square foot — perhaps the city’s highest percentage of C-note deals at a single property.

Aquarian, currently based at 40 10th Avenue in Chelsea, was founded by Rudy Sahay, who previously co-founded real estate firm 54 Madison Partners and was a founding member of Guggenheim Partners.

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Aquarian recently formed a joint venture with Raven Capital Management, a music industry investment fund.

It also announced the creation of Aquarian Insurance Holdings, a shared structure for the company’s reinsurance and retail insurance businesses.

Aquarian was repped at 550 Madison by Current Real Estate Advisors’ Adam Henick and CBRE’s Neil King. Olayan was repped by a CBRE team led by Howard Fiddle and Mary Ann Tighe.