KEY POINTS:
It is where Peter Parker goes to work when he's not being Spiderman; it features in the opening credits of the David Letterman show; it is, in essence, as Manhattan as a building can get.
But New Yorkers are now preparing to say arrivederci to their treasured triangular landmark.
Valter Mainetti, an Italian property magnate, has revealed to Time magazine that his company, the Sorgente Group, had taken a majority stake in the signature building, which lies at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway and is worth an estimated US$180 million ($238 million).
The Flatiron was one of the tallest buildings in New York when it was built in 1903 by the Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. Offices in the apex of the 22-storey building are still reported to be the most sought-after.
The latest change of hands may not be quite as big a bombshell as the Japanese takeover of the Rockefeller Centre in 1989, but it is proof of how the weak US dollar is attracting property moguls to New York.
Investors from Abu Dhabi are also circling another New York landmark, the Chrysler Building.
- INDEPENDENT
