Howard Hughes’ Financing Strategy For Seaport? Its Own Deep Pockets
There will be no construction loans for Howard Hughes Corp’s South Street Seaport mixed-use, the developer’s CEO, David Weinreb, said yesterday at Weiser Mazars’ Commercial Real Estate Summit at the New York Athletic Club.
“When you have a lender that’s behind you, they often are pressuring you to make decisions that are not good decisions for the long term,” David told the crowd.
The developer’s balance sheet got a $390M shot in the arm this March when it sold a development site at 80 South St, near the Seaport, to China Oceanwide Holdings.
Howard Hughes often self-finances projects, David told The Real Deal, adding it will likely borrow money for the project at a later stage of its development.
Plans for a 52-story condo tower were dramatically scaled back late last year, owing to local backlash. [TRD]
