Extell Development has been given more time by its Chinese partner to finish financing its next supertall, Central Park Tower.
In the summer of 2016, Extell brought on Shanghai Municipal Investment's American division, SMI USA, as an equity partner on the 1,550-foot tower, which will be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere when completed. SMI's involvement contained a put option, and the company agreed to extend the option's deadline from this December to June 2018, The Real Deal reports.
The put option would allow SMI to sell back its shares of Central Park Tower to Extell and exit the investment, which would be a crushing blow to the tower's future. Extell is negotiating a $900M construction loan with JPMorgan Chase to prevent such a thing from happening, and SMI's extension — reportedly the third so far on this project — allows more time for that deal to be completed.
Central Park Tower would not be Extell's first supertall in New York, although its most recently completed one has also had its struggles. One57 has seen sale prices drop considerably on its ultra-luxury condos and even had the first foreclosure on Billionaire's Row.
SMI USA's extension and some EB-5 investment have kept Extell head Gary Barnett optimistic about the project. One possibly crucial difference between the Central Park Tower and One57 is the 363K SF Nordstrom flagship store planned at the base.
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