Park Avenue's 'Crown Jewel' gets an overdue overhaul.

There are few things more rewarding for a true building lover than bringing a worthy structure back to life. Especially if the magical transformation carries with it financial benefits.

Such turned out to be the case of 230 Park Ave. after Max Capital bought the building in 1998. According to all, the building is magnificent -- sometimes referred to as the "crown jewel" of Park Avenue, it features an ornate cupola, a painstakingly crafted clock, and an illuminated gold crown on the outside, in addition to an Art Deco lobby, with pink marble wainscotting and gold leaf chandeliers, on the inside.

But the 100-year-old plus building has not been renovated in more than 35 years. Prior to Max Capital's takeover, Harry Helmsley used to own the property, and as Coleen McDonald, executive vice president of Max Capital, tactfully pointed out "Most of the buildings he sold needed a great deal of work." The rents at the prime Midtown location, even in 1998's kind market conditions, averaged $20 per SF.

Fortunately, Max Capital wasn't about to economize on what was obviously a valuable asset. 230 Park Ave. was rewired, new mechanical and electrical systems were put in, and the building's elevator cabs were brought to landmark status. "We didn't have to do that," McDonald pointed out. "This is a hot market for landlords. We could have gotten tremendous rents regardless, but we wanted to upgrade it."

"The building was technologically advanced and placed in this century from a mechanical, electrical, and telecommunications standpoint," said Tara Stacom, executive director of leasing at Cushman & Wakefield, the leasing representative for 230 Park Ave. "The building just glistens as you look down Park Avenue today."

But though the renovation process was in itself financially rewarding -- "The new leases average about $80 per SF, and I don't know if we could have gotten those prices without putting anything into the building," McDonald noted -- Max Capital found that there was a "jewel within a jewel." It turned out that 230 Park Ave. hid a smaller, 1,500,000 SF building within its structure. Equipped with its own separate entrance, an HVAC system and elevator cabs, the inside building, which is on the market right now, would be able to provide some fortunate company with a ground level position at less than ground level rents.

"Unless you are Chase Manhattan, you can't typically get a ground floor position -- only the largest tenants usually get it," Stacom explained. "So what we have is something quite rare in a New York building."

Scheduled for occupancy by the end of the first quarter of this year, the "secret" building would neighbor with such 230 Park Ave. tenants as Bear Sterns & Co., Inc., American Financial Services, and Chase H&Q.

"The space would offer a separate security system and exclusive use -- we have lots of strong financial services firms which are always the ones most concerned about security and 24/7 systems. They need this kind of use and a Park Ave. presence," Stacom noted, expressing hopes that the space would bring in $70-$75 per SF.

"Our goal when we undertook the renovation was to bring the building back to its original luster and grandeur," McDonald added.

"We are still in the midst of it, but the tenancy at 230 Park Ave. has already changed. Not only are we getting great rents, but we have wonderful, creditworthy tenants."