IBM Building’s owner offers it for sale

NEW YORK — The IBM Building in midtown Manhattan is for sale and could fetch more than $1.3 billion, a person with knowledge of the offering said.

The owner of the 43-story tower at 590 Madison Ave. would also consider selling a partial interest, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio bought a stake in the property in 1994 and the remaining share three years later, the person said.

The 1.1. million-square-foot building is about 80 percent leased, according to the source. International Business Machines Corp., the computer giant, remains its largest tenant, with about 120,000 square feet of offices.

The tower, completed in the early 1980s and designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, stands at the southwest corner of Madison Avenue and East 57th Street in one of Manhattan’s priciest business districts. It has a two-story glass atrium that’s open to the public, and an Alexander Calder sculpture, Saurian, in its plaza. Tenants at the base include the watch merchant Tourneau and the British auction house Bonhams.

The property is being marketed by a Cushman & Wakefield team led by Doug Harmon and Adam Spies. A spokesman for the brokerage declined to comment. A call to the press office of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio wasn’t immediately returned.