|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By: Serach Nissim
Extell’s new tower, which has a slated completion date of 2028, has found a new partner.
As reported by Crain’s NY, Ingka Investments, an investment firm with ties to Ikea, is taking a stake in the upcoming tower. As per a company statement on Monday, the developer led by founder Gary Barnett will keep a two-thirds stake in the building. Extell has been looking for an investment partner and inked a deal with Ingka Investments. Ingka will own roughly 80,000 square feet of retail space at 570 Fifth Ave., per the company statement. The business will also take on a one-third stake in the remainder of the building, as well as preferred equity.
Per Crain’s, Ingka has not yet made clear the exact plans for the retail space. Plans for some of the space include some form of an “Ikea customer meeting point.” The company is considering the option of opening a traditional Ikea store at the space, where customers can purchase and carry out products, said an Ingka spokesperson. For the New York stake, “the timing is just right because we see a great opportunity to be part of the exciting urban revitalization happening post-pandemic,” said Peter van der Poel, managing director at Ingka Investments. “This investment is perfectly in line with our long-term strategy to bring Ikea closer to our customers.”
“We came up with Ikea, and they are very interested, of course, in getting a large retail space in the heart of the city,” Extell Chairman Gary Barnett said. “And we believe we’re getting a great investment into the overall project.”
Extell, founded in 1989, boasts over 25 million gross square feet of past and future Developments. Notable holdings by the developer in New York City include: One Manhattan Square (the 80-story luxury glass condo tower located on the edge of New York Harbor), Central Park Tower (the luxury residential tower on Billionaires’ Row with Nordstrom’s Manhattan flagship store at its base) , One57 (famed as the tallest residential building in NYC, and for breaking the record for the highest price paid for a single residence in NYC), 1010 Park Ave, 995 Fifth Ave, Hyatt Times Square, and the Hardrock Hotel on 48th street.
At 570 Fifth Ave, Extell completed demolition in 2023. Located in the Diamond District of Midtown Manhattan, the site has the potential to be a 1,101-foot mixed-use supertall tower. Extell has yet to announce the plans for the building. Per NY Yimby, it could construct a 78-story, 1.4-million-square-foot hotel and condominium tower. Alternately, it may construct an 860-foot-tall, 47-story office skyscraper boasting over 1.5 million square feet. In both cases, the tower’s first two levels would be dedicated to retail space and a tall main entrance along Fifth Avenue. There are also plans for a podium with an impressive landscaped terrace.
Ingka’s deal helps it do what many big holding companies are now hoping to do—namely, snatching up prime retail space in New York City. Ingka has been looking to expand its presence in city centers. It also recently agreed to purchase a property in London, and it is in the midst of inking another deal for spots in Paris. Per Crain’s, illustrating this goal, at the beginning of 2024, Gucci’s parent company, Kering, paid a shocking $963 million for the building at 717 Fifth Ave.
