Extell Development landed a $1.2 billion lifeline for its jam-packed pipeline.
An undisclosed hedge fund is taking a preferred equity stake in nine projects from Gary Barnett’s shop, according to Tel Aviv Stock Exchange filings translated by Bisnow. The infusion provides a glimpse into Barnett’s next chapter as the hedge fund backing could help bring several long-simmering assemblages to market at once.
The splashiest is on the Upper West Side, where Extell is teeing up a 1.8 million-square-foot mixed-use complex at Disney’s old ABC campus. Barnett shelled out $921 million for the properties in 2022 and preservationists warn zoning allows a 1,200-foot tower, which would dwarf other properties in the neighborhood. Barnett has been speaking with the community personally to get this project across the finish line.
Other projects attached to the equity via the filings include: a 600,000-square-foot tower replacing the shuttered Wellington Hotel on Seventh Avenue; a 600,000-square-foot mixed-use build on East 86th Street; an 800,000-square-foot condo-and-rental project on West 96th Street with ABS Partners; and an up to 600,000-square-foot Downtown Brooklyn tower, where Extell and Feil have spent years stitching together a blockfront on Fulton Street.
On Fifth Avenue, Barnett’s decade-long assemblage around 576 Fifth is poised to deliver a $1 billion, 1.1 million-square-foot office tower anchored by Manhattan’s first Ikea; the retailer is reportedly kicking in nearly $300 million of its own in ordinary and preferred capital.
Meanwhile, Extell filed plans to supersize 655 Madison into a 74-story mixed-use tower with Chanel reportedly in talks to buy the retail condo for $450 million.
Then there’s “The Torch,” an 875,000-square-foot Times Square hotel-and-entertainment tower featuring a drop ride and observation deck. Extell already lined up $1.3 billion in financing from an unknown bank.
Beyond New York, the hedge fund is also betting on Barnett’s Deer Valley East Village redevelopment in Utah, where Extell broke ground on a Four Seasons resort earlier this year. Barnett’s firm announced a $600 million construction loan for the project earlier this summer.
The exact funding for each project was not disclosed. Extell did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
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