Extell’s Riverside Center inks refi deal

Gary Barnett and a rendering of Riverside Center

Gary Barnett of Extell Development is raising funds for his West Side Highway lot — the site of the planned Riverside Center that would stretch between 59th and 61st streets and between West End Avenue and the West Side Highway — through a refinancing deal with an Oman limited liability company. Extell and Washington-based partner the Carlyle Group have a mortgage out on the land with Cigna and ING, which now allows for a mezzanine loan from Orange Sands LLC. It is unclear whether the Oman investors are a private or government entity. Barnett wants to rezone the spot, located just south of Trump Place, and to ultimately obtain more construction financing for a five-building complex. The approved plans so far, by architects SLCE, call for a 73-story, 953-foot tower that is residential from the 21st floor up. Barnett said he won’t be moving into the sky-high penthouse, on the 71st and half of the 72nd floor, once it’s finished. “I can’t afford it,” he quipped to the Post. Retail space will be located on the ground floor and above that, there will be a hotel. [Post]