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Originally Posted by Eveningsong

ofc take a deep breathe of fresh asbestos filled air

What, do you think they just shrugged and left all the asbestos in the building for the last 26 years and did nothing about it?

*sigh*

Only 3 years after your article and the building was not only 95% occupied, but they were already working on addressing the asbestos issue.

Commercial Property: Pan Am Building; '200 Park Avenue' Preferred
New York Times: August 18, 1991

YOU might call it the Mitsui Building. Or the Dreyfus Building. Or the Rogers & Wells Building. Or, as the landlord seems to prefer, 200 Park Avenue.

Whatever the choice, if the name of the gargantuan skyscraper athwart Park Avenue were to reflect its tenancy, the name would no longer be Pan Am.

Although the airline still has four floors -- down from the 15 it occupied when the building opened in 1963 -- it will probably vacate most, if not all, of that space.

.....

At the moment, the 2.9 million-square-foot building is 95 percent occupied, according to Eileen J. Koffler, a senior analyst at Met Life for real estate investments. No single tenant predominates. Instead, about 100 companies and firms occupy the tower. Besides Pan Am, the largest tenants are the law firm of Rogers & Wells, which has 257,000 square feet under lease; the Dreyfus Corporation, 230,000; Mitsui & Company (U.S.A.), 170,000; the law firm of Coudert Brothers, 125,000 and the law firm of Whitman & Ransom, 110,000.

.....

Mitsui will be shifted within the building, in part for asbestos removal, in part to allow for construction. "When people are making 15- or 20-year commitments, they're entering into multimillion-dollar transactions," said Robert N. Jenkins, vice president for real estate investments at Met Life. "We move them to get their space fully equipped, renovated and ready for continued occupancy."

NEITHER Mr. Jenkins nor Ms. Koffler would elaborate on the asbestos issue.

Source