Kushner Companies Leaving 666 Fifth Avenue for GM Building
By Nicholas Rizzi May 20, 2020 1:05 pm
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Kushner Companies will leave 666 Fifth Avenue — the asset it unloaded to Brookfield (BN) Property Partners in 2018 — and move its offices to the iconic GM Building, a source with knowledge of the deal confirmed.
The developer signed a 10-year sublease with Itaù Unibanco Holding for 20,500 square feet on the top floor of the 50-story GM Building at 767 Fifth Avenue, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Asking rent was around $100 per square foot, according to the Journal.
(Disclosure: Kushner principal Nicole Kushner Meyer is married to Observer Media Chairman and Publisher Joseph Meyer.)
The developer currently has its offices in 15,000 square feet on the 15th floor of 666 Fifth Avenue but needs new space as Brookfield empties the 39-story building to start a $400 million renovation, the Journal reported.
Newmark (NMRK) Knight Frank’s David Falk and Jason Greenstein represented Kushner in the sublease while Stephen Siegel and Sam Mann of CBRE (CBRE) handled it for Itaù. An NKF spokesman declined to comment and a spokeswoman for CBRE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kushner Companies — founded by Charles Kushner — was mainly known as a New Jersey developer until it made the splashy $1.8 billion purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue in 2007, a then record-breaking price, the New York Times reported.
The property was heavily leveraged and shed some of its largest tenants during the 2008 recession. Kushner recently scrambled to find partners to bail it out of its investment while it faced a $1.4 billion mortgage due on the property in 2019.
The developer was originally in talks with foreign investors including China’s Anbang Insurance Group but those deals fell apart due to scrutiny over Jared Kushner’s role in President Donald Trump’s administration, Bloomberg reported.
In 2018, Brookfield stepped in and bought a 99-year ground lease on the property that gave Kushner $1.1 billion, the Times reported.
Last year, Brookfield announced plans for a $400 million renovation of 666 Fifth Avenue that would add a new glass exterior, renovate the rooftops and update the mechanical systems while changing the address to 660 Fifth Avenue once work is finished.
