Gary Barnett Eyeing $3.8B Loan for UWS Supertall Project
Gary Barnett’s next big project may soon be the beneficiary of a loan of historic proportions.
JPMorgan Chase is in discussions to spearhead financing for Extell Development’s supertall project at the former ABC headquarters site on the Upper West Side, Bloomberg reported. Barnett is looking for $3.8 billion in financing, which would be one of the largest such packages ever.
Extell and JPMorgan both declined to comment on the talks.
In April, Extell filed plans for an 86-story, 1,200-foot-tall supertall at 80 West 67th Street on the former Disney/ABC campus, which includes 430 residential units and 25,000 square feet of retail space.
Barnett’s been eyeing a supertall at the neighborhood campus for a while. Last May, he appeared before a community board, part of an effort to avoid a lengthy legal battle. He went as far as offering to build more than 100 affordable units across two smaller buildings to appease community members.
But community members and the local councilmember pushed for even more affordable housing.
“We definitely want a lot of affordable units and it has to be on-site,” Councilmember Gale Brewer said at the time.
Extell paid Silverstein Properties and Seven Valleys approximately $930 million in 2022 for the former Walt Disney Company-owned ABC campus and landed at least $900 million in acquisition financing from Guggenheim Partners and Aquarian Holdings.
Barnett is no stranger to massive loan packages. This month, Extell finalized $1.25 billion in construction financing for “The Torch,” a Times Square supertall project, including an $1.1 billion construction loan led by none other than JPMorgan, as well as a $150 million mezzanine loan.
The 60-story development at 740 Eighth Avenue is two-thirds complete and will feature a 1,800-room hotel, 130,000 square feet of advertising space and a 250-foot amusement ride.
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