Roth and Kushner planning vertical mall at 666 Fifth Ave.

Development giants Steven Roth of Vornado Realty Trust and Jared Kushner of Kusher Companies are quietly preparing plans for a radical overhaul of 666 Fifth Avenue in Midtown, converting the 1950s-era office tower into a vertical mall with a Central-Park-facing hotel and residential space on the upper floors.

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid has already prepared a plan to restack the current 483-foot structure into a thin, 1,400-foot tower, the New York Post reported.

Kushner and Vornado are partners in the building’s office portion, and Vornado owns one of the property’s two retail condominiums. The clothier Zara, owner of the other retail condo, would be unaffected by the move. Some office tenants, such as Colliers International, would be forced to relocate.

Kushner bought 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion in 2007, at the time the largest single-building transaction in U.S. history. The developer was forced to sell equity and condos in the building to cover losses from the 2008 financial crisis. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg