Sony is leaving its recently sold historic headquarters at 550 Madison Ave. and heading further south to the hipper 11 Madison Ave.
The electronics giant is taking over 500,000 square feet at the top of the 30-story tower between East 24th Street and 25th Street, overlooking Madison Square Park.
While there is no signed lease, Sony has a term sheet, sources told the Post. No financial terms could be learned other than that the deal works out to more than $70 a foot.
To get Sony on board, owners Rotem Rosen and Alex Sapir of the Sapir Organization along with their 49 percent partner, CIM Group, have also cut a deal with Credit Suisse. The financial giant will consolidate into 1.5 million square feet at the base of the tower, leaving the top of the 2.3 million square-foot building for Sony.
Since Sony sold its 37-story, Chippendale-topped skyscraper last year to Joseph Chetrit for $1.12 billion, the company has been on a short-term lease while seeking a new home through CBRE CEO Mary Ann Tighe.
None of the parties involved in the deals responded to requests for comment.
Sony’s quandary has been whether to pursue space in a similar trophy glass-and-steel building nearby or opt for a completely new vibe by moving to the Midtown South tech district so as to attract new workers.
As the Post previously reported, Sony flirted with the status-filled white 666 Fifth Ave., where a landmarked Isamu Noguchi lobby sculpture by their Japanese cohort was appealing.
It recently passed on 1221 Ave. of the Americas, leaving law firm Mayer Brown to pursue a 200,000 square-foot lease, according to Crain’s.
The Art Deco 1932-era granite, hourglass-shaped 11 Madison is 85 percent filled with Credit Suisse, which has 213,285 square feet up for sublease through CBRE.
Credit Suisse was the domino, as it has an expiring lease and needed to make a decision to leave, renew or downsize.
Last year, the owners decided to concentrate on Credit Suisse’s lease and pulled the building off the market as potential purchasers fretted they would be buying a nearly empty building and would need to come with a tenant in hand.
Previously owned by MetLife, 11 Madison has a dramatic three-story vaulted lobby and underwent a $400 million modernization program in 1997.
Public documents show Sapir bought the building — which is divided into office condominiums — for $675 million in December 2003 and sold CIM its stake at the end of 2010 for $469,440,000.