BXP sells 10.6% stake in planned $2B 343 Madison Avenue office tower to AVRS Partners

Commercial Observer reported on Oct. 16 that BXP sold a 10.6 percent stake in 343 Madison Avenue, a planned 46-story Midtown Manhattan office tower, to AVRS Partners, founded by Edmond M. Safra in 2023. BusinessWire first reported the equity partnership, according to Commercial Observer. The project is expected to cost roughly $2 billion.

Weeks earlier, Commercial Observer reported that BXP secured $1.2 billion of construction financing for the tower from Wells Fargo, Bank of America Securities, Bank of New York Mellon and J.P. Morgan Chase.

The 930,000-square-foot building is 56 percent pre-leased: C.V. Starr signed a 275,000-square-foot anchor lease in October, and McDermott Will & Schulte took roughly 150,000 square feet in April. Ground has not been broken, and completion is expected in 2029.

AVRS already holds equity in 77 Water Street in the Financial District and in One Willoughby Square, Brooklyn's tallest office tower. Safra's firm and BXP are co-owners of the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue, valued at $3.7 billion in recent BXP filings.

"We are pleased and honored to expand our relationship with AVRS Partners through this investment," BXP Chairman and CEO Owen Thomas said in a statement. Safra called BXP "a valued partner to my family for more than a decade."

343 Madison sits just west of Grand Central Terminal between East 44th and 45th Streets, among other towers planned for the Midtown East corridor: Vornado and Citadel's 350 Park Avenue, RXR's 175 Park Avenue and SL Green's 346 Madison Avenue.

Manhattan office leasing rose 2.3 percent through the third quarter of 2026 and vacancy fell to 12.6 percent, according to JLL data reported by IREI.