MetLife Building
Opening and Pan Am ownership
### Opening and Pan Am ownership

[thumb\|The Pan Am Building as seen in the 1980s](/wiki/File:Pan_Am_Building%2C_NYC%2C_1980s.jpg "Pan Am Building, NYC, 1980s.jpg")
The as\-yet\-incomplete Pan Am Building was formally opened on March 7, 1963, with a ceremony attended by British and American officials, and tenants started moving into the structure the following month. The building had secured tenants for 91 percent of its office space upon opening, in large part to its central location. Within three months, the Pan Am Building was 92 percent rented and 70 percent occupied; by the first anniversary of its opening, the building was 97 percent leased with 241 tenants. This contrasted greatly with the smaller Empire State Building, which was only 25 percent rented when it opened and did not reach full occupancy for more than a decade afterward. At the time of its completion, the Pan Am Building was the largest commercial office development in the world by square footage, being surpassed nearly a decade later by [55 Water Street](/wiki/55_Water_Street "55 Water Street") and the [World Trade Center](/wiki/World_Trade_Center_%281973%E2%80%932001%29 "World Trade Center (1973–2001)") in lower Manhattan. In the 15 years prior to the Pan Am Building's opening, 147 office buildings had been completed in Manhattan, totaling  of office space.

Initially, the airline only had a 10 percent ownership stake in its namesake building. Besides Pan Am, other early tenants included the [Westinghouse Electric Corporation](/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Corporation "Westinghouse Electric Corporation"), [Alcoa](/wiki/Alcoa "Alcoa"), the [Hammermill Paper Company](/wiki/Hammermill_Paper_Company "Hammermill Paper Company"), [National Steel Corporation](/wiki/National_Steel_Corporation "National Steel Corporation"), [Kodak](/wiki/Kodak "Kodak"), the [Reader's Digest Association](/wiki/Trusted_Media_Brands "Trusted Media Brands"), [Mitsui](/wiki/Mitsui "Mitsui"), [Chrysler](/wiki/Chrysler "Chrysler"), and the [British Iron \& Steel Corporation](/wiki/British_Iron_%26_Steel_Corporation "British Iron & Steel Corporation"). The shops at the Pan Am Building's base were opened in August 1963\. The tenant selection process was rigorous, as Cushman and Wakefield examining the services and goods sold by potential tenants: for example, the firm's vice president got haircuts from each of the six applicants for the lobby barbershop. Furthermore, average rents in the Pan Am Building were about , slightly higher than the average of  in other Midtown Manhattan buildings.

Although the Pan Am Building's completion averted the terminal's imminent destruction, New York Central had experienced further decline, merging with the [Pennsylvania Railroad](/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad "Pennsylvania Railroad") in 1968 to form the [Penn Central](/wiki/Penn_Central "Penn Central") Railroad. That year, Pan Am bought a 45 percent stake in the building from the estate of Jack Cotton, formerly chairman and co\-owner of City Centre Properties. After Penn Central went bankrupt in 1970, it sought to sell its properties, including the land below the Pan Am Building. Among the building's tenants during this time was the [United Brands Company](/wiki/United_Brands_Company "United Brands Company") (now [Chiquita Brands International](/wiki/Chiquita_Brands_International "Chiquita Brands International")), whose CEO, [Eli M. Black](/wiki/Eli_M._Black "Eli M. Black"), jumped from the 44th story to his death on February 3, 1975\.

Pan Am was considering moving its headquarters from the building by 1978\. That year, the airline bought the remaining 45 percent stake in the building from Wolfson, obtaining full ownership of the property. A Pan Am subsidiary, Grand Central Building Inc., acquired the underlying land for about  the following year as part of a legal settlement with Penn Central. The airline sustained large financial losses during the [early 1980s recession](/wiki/Early_1980s_recession "Early 1980s recession"), leading it to announce in February 1980 that it was considering selling the building. About half the leases were scheduled to expire in three or four years. Many lessees were exempt from paying the building's operating costs, which made the Pan Am Building only marginally profitable for the airline. Amid high fuel costs and a lack of income from airfare, Pan Am decided in April 1980 that it would definitely sell the building.


What event occurred on February 3, 1975, related to one of the Pan Am Building's tenants?