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Kushner’s Times Square Center Moves Toward Foreclosure

Kushner Family’s Times Square Property Moves Toward Foreclosure

A Times Square retail property owned by Kushner Cos., the family company of former presidential adviser Jared Kushner, is a step closer to foreclosure, according to loan documents.

“Legal counsel has been engaged and foreclosure actions have been filed,” according to Wells Fargo & Co., the trustee on the debt.

Representatives for Kushner Cos. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The building at 229 West 43rd Street, which used to house the New York Times, is only about half occupied. It was reappraised at $92.5 million in 2020 and counted Bowlmor and, until December, Guitar Center as tenants. The building was appraised at $470 million in 2016.

Deutsche Bank AG originated a $285 million loan in 2016 to refinance six floors of retail space in the former New York Times building. The property also had $85 million in mezzanine debt from SL Green Realty Corp. and Paramount Group Inc.

The property was running into trouble even before the pandemic turned Times Square into a ghost town. Rent income was falling short of interest payments on the debt back in November 2019.

A month later, the loan was transferred to special servicing “due to imminent monetary default,” according to Wells Fargo.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.