Bouwinvest and Tishman Speyer Launch U.S. Office Account, With Chrysler Building as First Investment

NEW YORK — Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and Tishman Speyer have launched a separately managed account (SMA) to invest in office buildings across major U.S. cities, with the Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan as the vehicle's first investment, the firms announced Oct. 22.

The Bouwinvest-Tishman Speyer SMA will target institutional-quality office buildings in U.S. markets with strong fundamentals, resilient demand and limited new supply. Its strategy will focus on core-plus and value-add opportunities, and it may invest alongside other Tishman Speyer-managed office-focused vehicles and mandates, as well as like-minded institutional investors.

Tishman Speyer Office Club and Target Markets

The SMA joins a Tishman Speyer club focused on U.S. office investment strategies. The club currently has approximately $700 million of equity capital available, representing approximately $1.5 billion of purchasing power.

In addition to the nation's traditional gateway cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, Tishman Speyer will pursue opportunities in established growth markets across the country.

"We are pleased to expand our investing partnership with Bouwinvest through this new mandate," said Tishman Speyer Senior Managing Director Nate Shanok. "Together, we see attractive opportunities to acquire well-located office assets in markets with durable demand drivers and limited new supply, and reposition them to meet the evolving needs of today's customers."

Chrysler Building Repositioning

The Chrysler Building, a 77-story, approximately 1.3 million-square-foot office tower completed in 1930, is held under a 150-year ground lease from The Cooper Union. Tishman Speyer will undertake an extensive building improvement and hospitality program at the tower, with approximately $235 million of investment tied to the restoration and improvement effort.

The investment aims to reposition the Chrysler Building as one of Manhattan's most distinctive new boutique office buildings, pairing its address with a workplace experience designed for today's customers. The program includes hospitality and amenity components, as well as a "brown-to-green" improvement strategy.

"The Chrysler Building is a fitting first investment for this mandate and shows how we invest internationally: selectively, early in the cycle and through specialist partners like Tishman Speyer," said Robert Wagenaar, Bouwinvest Director North American Investments. "We now see a compelling tactical opportunity in the US Office market to invest with a strong locational focus and brown-to-green angle."

Wagenaar said Bouwinvest built its international capabilities over more than two decades for bpfBOUW, its largest client and shareholder. "With its continued support, we are now making our international platform available to a broader group of institutional investors looking for active access to opportunities that are difficult to reach on their own," he said.

Bouwinvest's Background and Existing Partnership

Bouwinvest is a multi-client real estate investment manager serving more than 35 institutional clients. It originates from bpfBOUW, the Dutch construction workers' pension fund. The firm won Best Global Indirect Strategy and Best Global Listed Strategy at the 2026 IPE Real Estate Global Awards.

The new mandate builds on an existing relationship between Bouwinvest and Tishman Speyer. Bouwinvest recently participated in the first closing of Tishman Speyer's Korea Living Venture, an approximately $400 million fund dedicated to acquiring, repositioning and developing multifamily and accommodation properties in Seoul.

Manhattan Office Market Context

The launch comes as Manhattan's office market shows signs of divergence between high-quality buildings and weaker ones. Manhattan office vacancy stood at 12.8% in the first half of 2026, down 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier, while prime asking rents reached approximately $78.13 per square foot. Midtown Manhattan's prime vacancy was approximately 2.2% in the second quarter, according to CBRE data.

Investment activity has also improved. Manhattan office sales approached $4.4 billion in the first half of 2026, and total Manhattan investment sales neared $6 billion, the strongest first-half performance since 2022.

The recovery has been selective. Demand has strengthened for well-located, high-quality and recently renovated buildings, while older or less competitive properties continue to face leasing and capital requirements. Overall Manhattan vacancy remains above pre-pandemic levels. Lee & Associates reported a Manhattan office vacancy rate of 13.46% in the first quarter of 2026, average asking rents of $76.70 per square foot and an average office capitalization rate of 6.06%.

Recent trades indicate capital is available for differentiated assets. A sale of 65 East 55th Street priced at nearly $1,174 per square foot, and Park Avenue Plaza traded at an implied valuation of approximately $1.1 billion, or roughly $949 per square foot.

Outlook

The SMA gives Bouwinvest a route to U.S. office exposure alongside Tishman Speyer, with the Chrysler Building serving as the first asset in the program. The strategy centers on acquiring or recapitalizing well-located office buildings and using capital improvements and sustainability upgrades to meet tenant demand for higher-quality workplaces.

Sources

• Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors: Bouwinvest and Tishman Speyer launch investment vehicle targeting premier office assets in leading U.S. cities