Real Estate transactions on the old New York Times Building — purchased by Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel subsidiary in 2007 and part owned by Kushner Companies
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In 2015 Kushner Companies bought a stake in the old New York Times building from Soviet-born oligarch Lev Leviev who has close ties to Putin.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Federal prosecutors in New York are looking at the loan made by Deutsche Bank to Jared Kushner’s real estate company a month prior to the 2016 election related to the deal with Leviev. The New York Times also reported on Friday about the subpoena issued out of the Eastern District of New York.
The Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office sent a request mid-November to Kushner Companies for information related to a $285 million Deutsche Bank loan which was used to refinance the purchase of retail space at 229 West 43rd Street in the old New York Times Building.
Lev Leviev’s Africa Isreal Investments Ltd, known as AFI, purchased the property at 229 West 43rd Street in 2007, and has been covered in the news recently because of AFI’s involvement with the Prevezon money laundering case.
The Guardian reported on July 17th about Kushner’s real estate deal with Lev Leviev’s old New York Times building, and Leviev’s connection to the Prevezon money laundering case. Prevezon allegedly laundered money by purchasing real estate from Leviev’s company AFI in Europe and from AFI in New York City at 20 Pine Street. In addition the Daily Beast reported in November that Prevezon also bought a 30 percent stake in four Dutch AFI companies in 2008.
The news Friday about Federal prosecutors looking at the Deutsche Bank loan to Kushner Companies does not indicate any connection to the Prevezon money laundering case. However Kushner’s real estate deal with Leviev, who is connected to the Prevezon money laundering, case is intriguing, especially since Kushner also attended the July 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer who represents Prevezon.
To help put the Deutsche Bank loan to Kushner into context, following is a timeline of some of the major real estate transactions related to the old New York Times building at 229 West 43rd Street.
229 West 43rd Street Timeline
- 2007 — $525,000,000 — Leviev’s AFI buys from Tishman
- 2011 — Leviev’s AFI converts 229 W 43rd into Condos
- 2011 — $160,000,000 — Blackstone buys 12 top office floors
- 2015 — $516,000,000 — Blackstone sells to Columbia Property Trust
- 2015 — $295,027,000 — Kushner Cos buys 250,000 feet retail space
- 2016 — $285,000,000 — Deutsche Bank mortgage to Kushner Cos
- 2016 — $85,000,000 — SL Green Mezzanine loan to Kushner Cos
- 2017 — $7,766,446 — Cerberus sells to A-B Parent LLC
Timeline with source links
2007 — $525,000,000 — Leviev’s Africa Israel buys 229 W 43rd St
- Tishman Speyer Real Estate sells property to Lev Leviev’s Africa Isreal Properties holding company AI Times Square Limited Partnership
- 6/29/2007 RPTT AND RETT $525,000,000
- 6/29/2007 DEED (signed by Rotem Rosen, CEO of Africa Israel’s US business)
2011 — Leviev’s Africa Israel converts 229 W 43rd into Condos
- 7/13/2011 Condo Declaration — 3 parcels (block/lot): 1015/12, 1015/1001, 1015/1002
2011 — $160,000,000 — Blackstone buys 12 office floors
- 7/13/2011 DEED —Africa Isreal’s holding company sells to Blackstone holding company BRE/N.Y.T. LLC
2015 — $516,000,000 — Blackstone sells to Columbia Property Trust
- 8/4/2015 DEED — Blackstone holding company BRE/N.Y.T. LLC sells to Columbia Property Trust holding company Columbia REIT
2015 — $295,027,000 — Kushner Cos buys 250,000 feet retail space
- 10/29/2015 DEED — Africa Isreal’s holding company sells to Kushner Companies four holding companies: Elmwood NYT Owner, LLC, Oakwood NYT Owner, LLC, Wallkill NYT Owner, LLC, Landings NYT Owner, LLC
2016 — $285,000,000 — Deutsche Bank mortgage to Kushner Cos
2016 — $85,000,000 — SL Green Mezzanine loan to Kushner Cos
- SL Green Loan — this transaction and Deutsche bring total refinancing for Kushner Cos to $370 million.
2017 — $7,766,446 — Cerberus sale to A-B Parent LLC
- 7/3/2017 NYC REAL PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX
- Transaction may be related to sale of Bowlmor AMF to Atairos announced June 2017.
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