Kushner Cos. yesterday said it turned over $1.2 billion in securitized loans on 666 Fifth Ave. to a special servicer, ending a six-month quest that will enable the building owner to negotiate better loan terms.
A spokesman for the company, which is controlled by Charles Kushner and his son Jared, stressed that Kushner Cos. is current on the loans attached to the 41-story building, but wanted to transfer the loans “so that it could more easily engage in productive discussions with the lender.” Special servicers only have authority to renegotiate loan terms.
Payments on the four loans from GE and Wachovia are due in 2017 and each carries an interest rate of nearly 6.4 percent and are up to date, according to loan-tracking firm Trepp. However, income on the building is running around $3 million short each month, according to sources familiar with the matter, who added that the shortfall so far has been covered by a $61.7 million reserve fund.
The Kushners bought the tower in 2007 for $1.8 billion, at the time the largest single-asset real estate deal in history. The owners later created a retail condominium and sold off a stake in the building to investors. The loans in special servicing do not affect the building’s retail portion, which includes an NBA store and an Abercrombie & Fitch.
