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The Chase Manhattan Corp. is considering building a new headquarters on the troubled 383 Madison Ave. site.
The nation's largest bank declines comment, but industry sources say that top Chase executives have been talking directly with representatives of the Saudi al-Babtain family, which currently owns the location.
The possibilities for Chase include buying into the property and building a large signature office to becoming the anchor tenant in an unconventional leasing deal.
The bank has told many real estate experts that it expects to take at least a year to assess how much space it will need. But sources familiar with Chase say that talks are being held at the highest levels and involve bank Chairman Walter Shipley and his top real estate hand, Caesar Chekijian.
Chase space diffused
Chase clearly has to do something about its real estate. In Manhattan alone, the $322 billion (assets) bank has more than 6 million square feet of office space scattered in more than a dozen locations throughout midtown and downtown, according to Re/Locate.
The bank's 1.5 million-square-foot headquarters building at 270 Park Ave. is bursting at the seams. Built for Union Carbide, the structure had been the headquarters for Manufacturers Hanover Trust. It became Chemical's headquarters after that bank acquired Manny Hanny in 1991 and became Chase's base...