I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t trust Kushner
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Kushner is very slick. He’s not buying Roth out without a plan.
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https://cbsla.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/gettyimages-878273640.jpg?w=420&h=294
(FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)
Couldn’t help it.
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I agree with you, Tec.
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the saga ends. (at least for the Zaha Hadid tower)
Mr. Kushner acknowledged that he had abandoned plans to demolish the existing aluminum-clad office tower to make way for an 80-story, ultraluxury skyscraper designed by the architect Zaha Hadid. The tower was to include a lush retail mall, a high-end hotel and the pricey apartments, at a prime location in the city.
That will not be built, he said on Monday. “It’s definitely not a knockdown,” Mr. Kushner said. “It’s definitely not the original plan.”
So what is going to happen?
“We don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re weighing our options.”
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Kushner sucks. But… maybe its a blessing in disguise.
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I’m not concerned. This is not viable as an office tower. Something amazing will rise here. If 30 stories of condos are added to the top of the existing tower, and fhe tower is reclad, it will be superb.
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I agree. I have no doubts this will not be developed. To good of an opportunity.
Good news today btw on 2 Penn and 350 Park Ave today, so a hell of a Monday! 
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Damn that Zaha design was amazing. 
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Something else amazing will come here. This will be the most luxurious building in NY.
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I sure hope so. After 220 topped and Verre is close, I’m craving more.
Steinway will be a nice addition though. Same with CPT.
Especially in person though. They are amazing.
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fascinating interview by TRD. We did get a little more details about what is in the works here.
[…]
Did all of this negativity, as you called it, also limit the pool of potential investors? Like were people scared off by the press coverage and the attention that any investment might bring?Charlie Kushner: Definitely. People who would ordinarily find it as an opportunity wouldn’t want to be part of it because they didn’t want the headline risk; there was that within people too. And we saw that right away: who was interested and who was not interested.
[…]
[…]
It’s true that you’ve shelved the original 1,400-foot condo-hotel-retail plan, correct?Charlie Kushner: That’s correct.
[…]
[…]
[Kushner] We had term sheets signed for several billon dollars of equity, but it’s such a big project and would require so much sovereign funds that it’s just not something that we can execute without creating a lot of havoc. Our company now is committed to steering clear of any conflict. It’s not a question; we don’t ask ourselves, “Is it legal”? or “Are we allowed to do it?” We ask ourselves, how is it going to be perceived and spun by the press, and what damage could that cause our company, our bankers, to Jared in Washington, because of more noise that is unnecessary. So we have opted, intentionally, not to do things that we’re absolutely legally permitted to do, and have done in the past.
[…]
regarding the building’s future:
[…]
Are you still thinking about some combination of residential in some part of the building?Charlie Kushner: The plan entails making this 1957 [office] building into a 2018 [office] building with floor-to-ceiling windows, convector units, reskinning the building, upgrading elevator, lobby, and really making this a building of the quality equivalent to the triple-A location where it sits.
[…]
[Kushner] We’re going to get something that’s off-the-charts great. We have competition to finance this building. Over the first six months of this year – and we’ll do a tombstone so I don’t want to be specific today – over the first six months of this year we will have done over $2 billion of financing.
[…]
But generally, our business is plowing ahead like a bulldozer and we just keep moving forward. … On this building [666 Fifth],we’re going to get three [loan] quotes.
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“According to the Journal, Vornado will receive $58 million from the sale. Kushner Companies, meanwhile, is reportedly close to signing a deal with Brookfield that would allow the latter to take over the leasing and operation of the office tower.”
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Frankly good riddance, they just couldn’t get it done. I am sure something will rise here eventually but for the kushners it wasn’t meant to be.
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I would certainly prefer a 1,400 ft. tower here, but if it’s a reconceived office tower, with totally new skin, still a big improvement over the current blight. Brookfield does a good job with building reskinnings.
Long-term, I think this tower eventually gets demolished and replaced with a supertall.
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This deal smells to high heaven. Meanwhile, a reskin is not enough. This building needs higher ceilings. It has to be a gut job.
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I agree. I think that Brookfield is investing in a 20 year plan. This will be razed thereafter. I think that the same is true for 5 MW.
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I really hope that Brookfield does something nice here and not just a lame reskin. This prime part of Fifth needs a lot of work. The Rolex Building should go, as should several other messes from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
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Its a reskin
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