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The U.N. has to move out of its asbestos-ridden, dilapidated headquarters soon for a five-year renovation. But when the world's slowest bureaucracy meets the world's hottest real estate market, can it move fast enough?
For nearly a year, real estate agents have been looking for enough space nearby to accommodate the U.N.'s nearly 10,000 employees during the renovation, which is supposed to begin by 2007. Now, they think they've found it. Just a few blocks away, at 47th Street and Lexington Avenue, there's a skyscraper that seems to have everything: convenience, nearly 1 million square feet of space and a relatively short lease. And, like most property in New York's bubbling market, it has something else: competing bidders.
Although a corporation can strike a deal quickly, the U.N. must have the approval of all 191 members of the General Assembly before it can enter negotiations with the building's owner, S.L. Green. U.N. officials worry that by the time the General Assembly gets around to signing off on it, the space will be gone.
"We need to get going," said Mark Malloch Brown, chief of staff to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "The challenge is how to somehow preserve the space until the General Assembly votes on it in September."
The options are limited. Some cynics, weary of traffic jams caused by diplomats' motorcades, have suggested that the U.N. move out of New York for good.
The real estate search...