650 Fifth Avenue (earlier known as the
Piaget Building and the Pahlavi Foundation Building) is a 36-story building on the edge of
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
on
52nd Street in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
The building was designed by
John Carl Warnecke & Associates for the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit organization run by the then-Shah of Iran,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 Octob ...
, “to pursue Iran’s charitable interests in the U.S.”. After the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran sought to take control of the Shah's property, including the assets of the Pahlavi Foundation, which was renamed the
Alavi Foundation
The Alavi Foundation is a public not-for-profit organization based in the United States.
Its headquarters are in Suite 2406 of 650 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
In 2017 U.S. Federal prosecutors sanctioned the Alavi Foundation for being "cont ...
.
Tenants who leased space at 650 Fifth Avenue included
Ivan F. Boesky, the infamous “greed-is-good” Wall Street speculator who was convicted of insider trading in 1987, and
Marc Rich
Marc Rich (born Marcell David Reich; December 18, 1934 – June 26, 2013) was an international commodities trader, hedge fund manager, financier, businessman, and financial criminal. He founded the commodities company Glencore, and was later ind ...
, a billionaire oil trader whose invention of the
spot oil market made his fortune and changed the world economy.
The Alavi Foundation itself has its headquarters in Suite 2406.
Iranian ownership
In December 2008, the Asset Forfeiture Unit and Terrorism and National Security Unit of the
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York sought to seize 40 percent ownership in the building after it charged that
Bank Melli
Bank Melli Iran (BMI; fa, بانک ملی ایران, lit=National Bank of Iran, ''Bânk-e Melli-ye Irân'') is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It is considered as the largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with ...
of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
owns that percentage of the building in violation of the
sanctions against Iran
There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...
. The other 60 percent of the building is owned by the Alavi Foundation — the
Bonyad
Bonyads ( fa, بنیاد "Foundation") are charitable trusts in Iran that play a major role in Iran's non-petroleum economy, controlling an estimated 20% of Iran's GDP, and channeling revenues to groups supporting the Islamic Republic. Exempt f ...
that is successor to the Pahlavi Foundation.
Bank Melli had originally financed it with a $42 million loan in 1978.
According to the U.S. government, the Alavi Foundation transferred 35 percent interest in the building to a
shell company
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
Assa Company Limited, which had just one employee, in exchange for Bank Melli officially cancelling the loan. However, the shell company officially registered in
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...
, was reported to be owned by Bank Melli.
In 2012, the owners hired
CBRE Group
CBRE Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate services and investment firm. The abbreviation CBRE stands for Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis. It is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 reven ...
to overhaul the building and lease space and give the appearance that Iran no longer had ties to the building. The new group spent $11 million renovating the building lobby and elevators.
In September 2013,
Judge
Katherine B. Forrest ruled "based on the uncontroverted record evidence, Assa was (and is) a front for
ran's first national bankBank Melli, and thus a front for the government of Iran" and thus Alavi should forfeit for the property. Alavi indicated it would appeal the decision.
In June 2017, acting U.S. Attorney
Joon H. Kim said the United States was prepared to seize the skyscraper—worth between $500 million to $1 billion—after a jury found that the Iranian sanctions had indeed been breached.
In 2019, the jury verdict to seize the property was overturned by a federal appeals court.
See also
*
Vanderbilt Triple Palace
The Triple Palace, also known as the William H. Vanderbilt House, was an elaborate mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue between 51st Street and 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The urban mansion, completed in 1882 to designs by John B. ...
, formerly on the site
References
External links
*
{{coord, 40.759942, -73.976929, display=title
Office buildings completed in 1978
Fifth Avenue
Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Iran–United States relations
1978 establishments in New York City