Kushners Want to Buy Out Park Avenue Co-op

It’s official: the Kushners are big fans of Habitat magazine. 

There’s no other conclusion to draw from two linked news events. First, as we reported here last year, all seven shareholders in a Soho co-op agreed to sell the building to an investor for $42 million, dissolve the co-op, and vacate the premises.

Apparently, our coverage put an idea into the heads of the people who run Kushner Cos., which, according to the New York Post, has just made an offer of $250 million to buy out the 26 shareholders in the luxury co-op at 417 Park Avenue, at the corner of 55th Street. The bid breaks down to $8.9 million per apartment.

The company was run by Jared Kushner until he became an adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, now runs the family business, which is hemorrhaging cash at its 666 Fifth Avenue property and is under scrutiny by federal, state and city agencies over questions relating to financing sources and to possibly falsified filings with the city’s Department of Buildings. No charges have yet been filed. 

Kushner Cos.’ audacious bid for 417 Park Avenue has one thing going for it. Unlike the Soho co-op, which required unanimous consent of all shareholders before the sale could go through, only two-thirds of the shareholders need to approve the deal at the 13-story Park Avenue property, which was designed by Emery Roth. The 417 Park co-op board met on March 28 to discuss a “letter of interest” from Kushner Realty Acquisition LLC offering to buy all 10,000 apartment shares, according to a letter from the board to residents that was seen by the Post. 

Brown Harris Stevens then sent a non-binding questionnaire to residents that asked whether the board should hire a real estate firm to advise it on the situation. Last week, owners representing 83.6 percent of 417 Park’s shares voted “yes.”