Jared Kushner and 666 Fifth Avenue

Developer Jared Kushner of Kushner Companies has come to a tentative deal to rescue his investment in 666 Fifth Avenue, which he bought for $1.8 billion in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported. Kushner reached a possible agreement with LNR Property, a firm specializing in restructuring troubled debt and which oversees the mortgage, that would allow him to retain control of the tower by modifying the terms of the $1.2 billion mortgage tied to the office portion of the building.

As The Real Deal reported last month, Kushner is also turning to office giant Vornado Realty which may buy a 50 percent stake in the building. Vornado would pay an undefined “nine-figure” sum (meaning something between $100 million and $999 million), a source told The Real Deal at the time, for a piece of the building.  [more]

Jared Kushner

For Jared Kushner, the 30-year-old owner of the New York Observer and 666 Fifth Avenue, 2011 will be a defining year, according to the New York Times. Personally, Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, is pregnant and poised to give birth to his first son. Professionally, Kushner is working to modify the loans on the $1.8 billion purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue he and his company, Kushner Companies, made at the height of the bubble, and to ensure that the Observer remains relevant through its third editor-in-chief in two years. Kushner, the story notes, was born into real estate through his father Charles. He began making deals of his own as an undergraduate at Harvard University buying apartment buildings throughout Boston. [more]

Jared Kushner at 666 Fifth Avenue

Despite a recent wave of high-priced, high-profile retail deals, Jared Kushner’s 666 Fifth Avenue is proving no different than many other over-leveraged Manhattan buildings purchased at the height of the real estate market: it’s now running low on cash. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kushner, who led his family’s record $1.8 billion purchase of the office and retail tower in early 2007, is negotiating with lenders to recapitalize the property in exchange for a modification of its $1.22 billion mortgage. The building is now around $3.5 million-per-month short on its debt service payments, and its reserve fund has dwindled to just $10 million, sources said. Comments

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Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

Ivanka Trump may have made headlines in the past for her show-stopping modeling career and lavish upbringing, but the Trump Organization executive vice president is focused today on making a name for herself in the real estate world, she said in a recent interview with Crain’s. The heiress and wife of fellow real estate scion Jared Kushner — who owns the New York Observer — said “real estate is still [her] primary focus,” despite a growing presence in the worlds of fashion and jewelry. She said her work in hotels is one of her proudest accomplishments. [more]

J-Vanka hits the set of “Gossip Girl” with Matthew Settle (“Rufus Humphrey”) and Kelly Rutherford (“Lily Bass”)

Real estate power couple Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made a cameo on the CW’s “Gossip Girl” last night, when the shows’ stars were said to convene at a New York Observer party at the Boom Boom Room. (Kushner, an executive at his father’s Kushner Companies, owns the Observer). Some of the main characters are intended to be New York real estate moguls, with a portfolio including the Empire Hotel. In fact, it’s not the first time Trump has been mentioned on the show — in the show’s third season, supposed real estate scion Chuck Bass noted that, “sleeping with the enemy is hot. Why do you think I have the whole Ivanka thing?” In a later interview with People Magazine, Trump confessed to being a fan of the show. “I have a ‘thing’ for Chuck Bass myself,” she said. Stay tuned for a video clip of the J-Vanka cameo when it becomes available, but for now, check out a snapshot of the real life couple on the set, above.

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Donald Trump

From the June issue: Donald Trump started his career working alongside his father, real estate developer Fred C. Trump, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Today, his firm, the Trump Organization, is of course one of the most recognizable real estate brands in the world, with holdings like Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and Trump Park Avenue, as well as hotels, golf courses and casinos. Trump has authored several books, including the best seller “The Art of the Deal,” and is a partner in the Miss Universe and Miss USA Pageants. In 2004, he began producing and starring in the television reality show “The Apprentice.” In a conversation with The Real Deal, Trump talked about his television stardom, the recession and his daughter Ivanka’s marriage to Jared Kushner. 

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Manhattan-based Kushner Companies is looking to buy AIG’s equity stake in a 17,000-apartment portfolio, according to Bloomberg news, as the insurance giant faces mounting pressure to pay back its $182.3 billion government bailout. Kushner had sold off the collection of apartments in 2007 for $1.9 billion, in what Jared Kushner, son of company founder Charles Kushner and a principal with the firm, described as a “strategic shift” away from suburban property ownership. The sale came on the heels of Kushner Companies’ purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion — which, at the time, was the most ever paid for a single building in the country. Kushner has offered between $165 million and $190 million for the equity interest, according to sources close to the deal. The portfolio of properties includes mostly middle-income, suburban apartment buildings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. [Bloomberg]

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From left: Charles Kushner, chairman of Kushner Companies; company principal and son Jared Kushner and 666 Fifth Avenue

It’s been a good week for the Kushner Companies at 666 Fifth Avenue, the 41-story office tower between 52nd and 53rd streets. Japanese retailer Uniqlo recently signed on to pay a record $300 million over 15 years for the building’s 100,000-square-foot retail condo that formerly housed Brooks Brothers. Today, the Post reports that energy-focused law firm Vinson & Elkins has renewed its lease and taken an additional 6,972 square feet, bringing its total to roughly 81,000 square feet at the property. The firm’s original lease was set to expire in November. Last year, law firm Orrick Herrington left 666 Fifth Avenue, putting Kushner in a bit of a crunch as it negotiated with its special servicer, something the company contends was their choice and was not due to a default.
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From left, Charles Kushner, chairman of Kushner Companies, company principal and son Jared Kushner and 666 Fifth Avenue

The $1.215 billion securitized loan secured by the Kushner Companies
iconic Midtown office building at 666 Fifth Avenue was transferred to
special servicing yesterday as part of an effort to restructure the
loan, a company spokesperson told The Real Deal in a statement. Kushner
bought the building, located between 52nd and 53rd streets, for $1.8
billion from Tishman Speyer Properties in January 2007, at the time the
highest price ever paid for an office building. “The transfer of
the 666 Fifth Avenue loan was done at the request of Kushner Companies,
so that it could more easily engage in productive discussions with the
lender. The loan is not currently in default,” the statement said. Peter
Slatin, editorial director of commercial data tracking firm Real
Capital Analytics said the move was part of a trend in owners seeking
to reduce their debt. “They are clearly hoping to take advantage
of the increasing willingness of lenders to restructure to avoid what
could be a challenging situation since they not only bought at the top
of the market, they defined the top of the market,” Slatin said. [more]

The Real Estate Board of New York’s 114th Annual Banquet was the usual whirl of floor-length dresses, schmoozing and cameos by politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson (see slide show above of The Real Deal’s Lauren Elkies interviewing people at the REBNY event, and click here for a Webcast from the night). But for the first time, a woman presided over the event — new REBNY Chairman Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the tri-state region of CB Richard Ellis, swathed in a sparkling blue gown. Her presence at the microphone, however, didn’t do much to quiet the boisterous crowd, which was just as loud as usual despite the fact that there were slightly fewer attendees this year than last — 2,000 versus 2,300 last year — according to REBNY President Steven Spinola. The crowd’s smaller size didn’t do much to dampen the markedly higher spirits that set this year’s event apart from last year’s. “Last year, this was like a funeral,” said Jeffrey Levine, principal of Douglaston Development, who attended the banquet with his son Benjamin. “We were licking our wounds from the collapse of Lehman. There’s no question everyone tonight is in a much better frame of mind.” [more]