Kushner Companies is looking to refinance a Jersey City apartment building to the tune of $250 million to pay back EB-5 investors, but major U.S. banks are shying away from the deal.
Jared Kushner’s family’s firm is “sending out feelers” to refinance the 50-story Trump Bay Street, Bloomberg reported. The company would keep $50 million and use the balance of the $250 million loan to repay investors and pay down existing debt on the property.
The Kushners financed about a quarter of the $194 million development through the controversial EB-5 program, and some large U.S. banks are wary of lending on the project because of the connection to Jared and the visa program, according to Bloomberg.
Non-bank lenders and foreign banks are likely to step in and fill the void.
Despite saying that he would divest from holdings that could cause a conflict of interest, Jared, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, had reportedly held onto 90 percent of his real estate holdings as of late May.
His family’s firm pulled out of an EB-5 roadshow in China last month amid criticism that executives were using Kushner’s connection to the White House in order to promote the project. Jared’s uncle, Murray Kushner (who is estranged from Jared’s immediate family), even faced backlash after his company, KRE Group, used images of the First Family to promote one of its projects in Jersey City to EB-5 investors. KRE blamed the Chinese firm that handled marketing.
Jared has pledged to avoid policy discussions on the visa program.
The Kushner Companies’ [TRDataCustom] difficulty refinancing the Jersey City building is the latest in a string of missteps and complicated deals that includes a plan to recapitalize the troubled 666 Fifth Avenue.
Jared is reportedly under investigation regarding his connections to a Russian banker who is close to Vladimir Putin. [Bloomberg] – Rich Bockmann
(To view more of Kushner Companies financing transactions, click here)