BXP Reaches Tentative 275K-SF Anchor Deal at 343 Madison Avenue

BXP has reached a tentative deal to lease around 30 percent of its $2 billion, 930,000-square-foot 343 Madison Avenue office development to insurance and investment giant C.V. Starr.

Starr, which claims a presence across six continents and $41.1 billion in global assets, would serve as the building’s anchor tenant across roughly 275,000 square feet.

Wall Street Journal was first to report the lease.

The identity of the brokers, length of the lease and asking rent are unclear. An August 2025, office lease at BXP’s nearby 510 Madison Avenue went for an asking rent of $160 per square foot, Commercial Observer previously reported.

BXP announced the launch of vertical construction of the 46-story, all-electric office tower in July 2025, noting that it was expected to deliver in 2029. It noted in the announcement that the building was designed by KPF (formerly Kohn Pedersen Fox) and that it will offer direct access to Grand Central Terminal’s Madison Concourse. Construction is being handled by Turner Construction, according to an August 2025 announcement by Turner.

At the time of the BXP announcement, the company said it had “executed a letter of intent with a prestigious, investment-grade financial institution to anchor 343 Madison Avenue and occupy 30 percent of the building, in the lower-middle section of the tower.”

In an interview with CO just last week, Hilary Spann, executive vice president for the New York region for BXP, gave CO an update on the project, noting that it was being completed in two phases.

“The first phase is the delivery of the entrance to the Madison Concourse of Grand Central that will be complete in June of next year,” said Spann. “The tower construction, which we call phase two, is scheduled to be complete in 2029. We can begin turning floors over to prospective clients in the second quarter of 2028 so that they can begin their build-out. We would get a [temporary certificate of occupancy] in 2029, and the tenant could occupy thereafter.”

Spann noted that the company was moving ahead with construction without a completed lease with an anchor tenant by funding it off BXP’s balance sheet. She also noted that the lack of a joint venture partner gives BXP the ability to fully control the project. The company’s decision to proceed without an anchor tenant is indicative of its confidence in the project, according to Spann.

The absence of a JV partner on this project is new. At one point, BXP owned 55 percent of 343 Madison, having sold a 45 percent interest to a then-unidentified institutional investor in July 2023, according to a company announcement. Two days after entering the joint venture, the JV executed a 99-year ground lease for the approximately 25,000-square-foot site with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which once had its headquarters there. 

The project’s direct connection to Grand Central was a condition of this ground lease. The lease, for $35.18 million, also included the sites of 347 Madison Avenue, 341 Madison Avenue and 47 East 44th Street, according to public records.    

The unidentified investor turned out to be Norges Bank, which withdrew from the JV in July 2025, according to Crain’s New York Business. In response, BXP announced a 30 percent reduction in its dividend in September 2025, lowering its payout from 98 cents per share to 70 cents per share. This provides the company with an extra $50 million per quarter to help fund the development of 343 Madison.     

Starr and Norges Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and BXP declined to comment.

Isabelle Durso contributed reporting to this article.

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.