A real estate trust that has a nearly 50 percent stake in 666 Fifth Avenue, the beleaguered Manhattan tower largely owned by Jared Kushner’s family business, has a “handshake” deal to sell its stake to Kushner Cos., Bloomberg reported Friday.
Current White House senior adviser and President Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner bought the skyscraper in January 2007, at the height of the real estate bubble, for a record-breaking $1.8 billion. The gamble on the the building, which has struggled to attract tenants, became a significant debt for the family.
In 2011, Vornado bought a 49.5 percent stake as part of a refinancing agreement. Vornado and Kushner Cos. have since clashed on how to renovate the building, with Kushner Cos. pushing to turn 666 Fifth Ave. into a luxury tower and Vornado pushing for it to remain an office building.
Jared Kushner’s father, Charles, now runs Kushner Cos. But with Jared holding a prominent role in the White House, his family’s search for investment in the building has raised eyebrows and many allegations of conflicts of interest.
“Agreed to sell” doesn’t mean they will get their money. They just want to disassociate from the Kushner family. Can’t say I blame them.
It would be interesting to see where the money is coming from for the Kushners to buy out Vornado.
I’m sure there is nothing about Jared’s position in the administration that has any impact on the financing. Perhaps there will just be an effective transfer of Vornado’s 49.5% stake to another investor with a pay-down of some of the debt. An LLC with an American sounding name to disguise the ‘Eastern European’ investors?
I seem to recall that Kushner had a big loan on this coming due shortly.
So yes, how them can they afford to buy out Vornado?
This is another odd deal, isn’t it?
The Kushner’s just recently received a $200 million loan from Citigroup on Trump Bay Street, a New Jersey luxury apartment tower part-owned by Kushner Cos.
It’s almost as if vultures are planting their talons in anticipation of getting their beaks very, very wet.
“Shortly following the deal, in which he assumed full ownership of the bottomless money pit, Kushner announced plans to convert the property into a giant box of tears, hopeless despair, and unending financial ruin.”