Cote D’Ivoire Drops $8 M. on New East Side Offices
By Dana Rubinstein October 8, 2009 7:28 pm
reprints
The government of Ivory Coast, a country where nearly half the population makes do with less than $1.36 a day, has dropped $8 million on new offices for its Permanent Mission to the United Nations, according to city deeds.
Alcide Djedje, the mission’s ambassador, signed the deed on Sept. 30 for a commercial condominium at 800 Second Avenue, an 18-story office tower between First and Second avenues owned by Philips International.
The Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa, and is still recovering from a recent civil war in which it was divided into a rebel-controlled north and government-controlled south.
The number listed on the Mission’s Web site is no longer in service. And Philips International broker Andrew Aberham did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But phone records indicate the Mission will find itself in diverse international company. Also occupying office space in the building: Eritrea and Israel (but not Afghanistan).
drubinstein@observer.com
