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Chrysler Building Sold To Abu Dhabi For $800 Million

Published 07/10/08 Jeff Bennett - Print Article
E-mail - editor@economyincisis.org

The government of Abu Dhabi purchased 90 percent of New York’s iconic Chrysler Building for $800 million on Tuesday. The building, a recognizable piece of New York’s skyline, is now largely foreign owned due to America’s reliance on foreign capital.

This acquisition demonstrates why Americans must stop purchasing oil from the OPEC nations. OPEC nations are accumulating American dollars into sovereign wealth funds and using them to purchase U.S. realty, stocks, bonds and treasury. Since the dollar is in a decline, Middle Eastern nations have been stocking up on U.S. realty; spending $1.8 billion this year on property, including the General Motors Building last month and now the Chrysler Building.

America, and all other oil consuming nations, is making the Middle East one of the world’s richest regions. Abu Dhabi, for instance, profits around $300 billion annually from the sale of oil. Now it is evident how these nations are using their surplus of cash – buying American icons and showing them off as luxurious status symbols.

Source Bloomberg.com:

New York's Chrysler Building, an Art Deco icon that helps define the New York skyline, was bought by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the second purchase of a Manhattan landmark by Middle East investors in as many months.

…

Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and other Persian Gulf countries flush with oil revenue have taken advantage of falling prices to invest in real estate and financial companies around the world. Middle Eastern investors have spent $1.8 billion this year on commercial property in the U.S., more than other international buyers, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based property research firm.

``We're sending our money their way'' to purchase oil, ``and that money is coming back and buying our assets,'' said Dan Fasulo, market analysis director at Real Capital.

…

The Abu Dhabi fund was set to pay about $800 million for the Chrysler Building, said a person with knowledge of the transaction on June 11. Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Front Page Photo by 5imon- Flickr © Some rights reserved

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