[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2017/08/03/t...project-qatar/

The quiet financier behind New York’s second-tallest condo project: Qatar
Sovereign wealth fund holds $162M in mezzanine debt on 111 West 57th Street


By Konrad Putzier
August 03, 2017

The most ostentatious projects in Manhattan may reflect the wildest ambitions of local developers, but they’re increasingly bankrolled by centers of wealth and power from all across the globe. And nowhere is that truer than on 57th Street.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth is quietly backing Michael Stern and Kevin Maloney’s supertall condo development at 111 West 57th Street, The Real Deal has learned. The wealthy Middle Eastern country’s investment arm, the Qatar Investment Authority, holds $161.5 million in mezzanine debt on the under-construction luxury project.

.....The mezzanine loan is out of balance, and the developers are trying to raise additional capital to pay for what sources said were cost overruns.
Spruce, now the most junior lender on the project, recently moved to foreclose on the project, in a move that could wipe out Ambase’s equity stake in the project. Last week, Ambase sued to block the foreclosure in the latest bout of legal drama at the project.

Ambase first sued JDS and PMG last year, accusing them of trying to dilute its stake through what it said were frivolous capital calls. The developers countersued, accusing Ambase of withholding crucial funding.

In public at least, Apollo hasn’t expressed any concern. During the earnings call, Rothstein said that the firm is “confident with the progress of construction towards completion” and disclosed that the first condos went into contract.

Once completed, the 1,418-foot-tall tower will briefly be the tallest residential building in the city by roof height until Gary Barnett’s Central Park Tower tops out. The project has a projected sellout of $1.45 billion.

QIA’s involvement in the tower underscores Qatar’s emergence as a major New York real estate investor. The sovereign wealth fund also owns a stake in Brookfield Property Partners’ Manhattan West project and last year bought $622 million worth of shares in Empire State Realty Trust. Meanwhile a former QIA head, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber al-Thani, is an investor in Harry Macklowe’s condo conversion project One Wall Street and the retail portion of 432 Park Avenue. The billionaire, known as HBJ, also reportedly came close to investing $500 million in Kushner Companies’ planned redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue.