Kushner Paying $120M To Replace Vornado With Brookfield At 666 Fifth

Kushner Cos. is reportedly paying $120M to take Vornado’s 49.5% stake in its embattled office tower 666 Fifth Ave.

Brookfield will come on as a partner for the redevelopment of the troubled building, but the Qatari Investment Authority will have no direct role in the new partnership, the New York Post reports.

While there has been no confirmation of the deal, Vornado disclosed the sale price in regulatory filings. While the Post quotes an anonymous source insisting Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has no role in the project, QIA is the second-largest owner of Brookfield shares.

Reports of the deal emerged this week, with Brookfield said to be in late-stage discussions to form a partnership with Kushner in a deal that would see the REIT taking the lead on renovations on the building.

While Qatar has preferred equity shares in Brookfield's Manhattan West megaproject, a spokesperson for Brookfield told the Post that no Qatar-linked entity has involvement in or knowledge of the potential deal. Brookfield Property Partners Chairman Ric Clark confirmed the firm's involvement Friday.

Kushner bought the office tower for a then-record $1.8B just before the recession. Charles Kushner is heading up the business while his son Jared, who was CEO when the company bought the building, acts as senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

Charles recently admitted that he had encouraged Jared to buy the building, which is under $1.2B in debt set to mature in July.

Brookfield plans to replace the building’s facade and will replace the aluminum with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It will also do a makeover on the lobby and elevator systems. The total project will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The building is currently 30% vacant and is not making enough money to cover its $1.2B loan, set to mature next year.

Speaking after an event in New York City, Clark likened the proposed renovation of the building to the company’s approach at 5 Manhattan West.

The renovation and repositioning of that building “was really successful for us and we see that as the same kind of drill,” he said. He declined to comment further.