Extell Scores Debt Deals on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

Gary Barnett is getting a big assist on notable Manhattan developments from the Israeli markets.

Extell Development scored or agreed to multiple financing deals solicited on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Bisnow reported. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on either debt deal.

First, Extell entered into a memorandum of intent with an unnamed bank to provide as much as $1.3 billion in financing for The Torch, a supertall mixed-use hotel at 740 Eighth Avenue in Times Square. The financing would include a senior construction loan and mezzanine debt, according to a Feb. 25 filing with the exchange and translated through Google.

Extell also signed a letter of intent with an unnamed hotel chain. The operator would invest in construction and provide a guarantee that could help Barnett secure another $150 million in mezzanine debt.

Work is already underway on the 1,067-foot-tall hotel, which will span 875,000 square feet and include 825 rooms. The most notable — and controversial — feature is a 300-foot transparent tube that will contain a drop ride, which has already passed the Department of Buildings’ muster.

Construction is expected to take four and a half years.

The developer also attempted to raise roughly $299.4 million from TASE bondholders to refinance 18 unsold condominium units at Central Park Tower. Barnett didn’t hit that number, but came close with a $270 million closing, according to an offering report translated with Google.

The collateral features a first lien on the 18 sponsor units at 217 West 57th Street. As of the end of last year, the units were valued at more than $557 million combined, according to an investor presentation.

Extell previously landed a $500 million inventory loan from JPMorgan Chase and the Reuben Brothers in 2023, which was secured by 87 apartments.

Barnett has been forced to accept discounted deals at the world’s tallest residential building. As of late December, 114 sponsor sales recorded in an analysis by The Real Deal have sold for a combined $1.8 billion, 25 percent less than the $2.4 billion in total volume listing in the project’s original offering plan for those units.

Sales launched in 2018 for the building’s 178 units.

In case Barnett didn’t seem busy enough, Extell just snapped up three buildings next to his planned Madison Avenue residential tower from Sol Goldman’s Solil Management for $103 million.

— Holden Walter-Warner