Jared’s White House Move ‘Crushed’ Kushners’ Deal For Troubled Manhattan Tower
Jared Kushner’s new gig at the White House has stymied his family’s effort to find a partner to redevelop their money-pit office tower headquarters in midtown Manhattan, according to a report in The Washington Post.
Kushner Companies, the family-owned real estate firm, has been coming up short in finding a business willing to work together to transform the Fifth Avenue skyscraper into a taller and more profitable mixed-use commercial and residential building.
Jared Kushner’s appointment as White House senior adviser has also scared potential investors – afraid they might get caught up in conflict of interest scrutiny. Before the election, the company had been talks with Russian and Chinese firms – arrangements that fell through in the aftermath of a Trump victory.
“They were crushed by this,” Thomas Barrack, a family friend and billionaire, told the Washington Post. “Just about completely chilled the market, and [potential investors] just said, ‘No way — can’t be associated with any appearances of conflict of interest,’ even though there was none.”
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
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