Kushner Companies LLC is an American

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

in the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. The company's biggest presence is in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

residential market. A study published in December 2017 by ''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

'' indicated that Kushner Companies owned a stake in over 60 buildings in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Major holdings in the city include the

Puck Building The Puck Building is a mixed-use building at 295–309 Lafayette Street in the SoHo, Manhattan, SoHo and Nolita neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The building was designed by Albert Wagner (architect), Albert Wagner i ...

and the retail space at 229 West 43rd Street, as well as

666 Fifth Avenue 660 Fifth Avenue (formerly 666 Fifth Avenue and the Tishman Building) is a 41-story office building on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. The off ...

until its 2018 sale. The company's headquarters were relocated to the GM Building Manhattan in 2020.

History

In 1985, Charles Kushner founded Kushner Companies along with his father, Joseph Kushner. In 2005, Charles Kushner was convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

and

witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficulty ...

, and served time in federal prison. As a result, he handed over the management of the company to his eldest son,

Jared Jared is a given name of Bible, Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the Jared (biblical figure), biblical patriarch Jared () was the sixth in the ten pre-Noah's Ark, flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Maha ...

. Kushner Companies has received multiple loans from Israeli bank,

Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of the largest banks in Israel, established in 1921. The bank offers a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate, and institutional customers, with a focus on retail banking services. ...

. The firm "received a roughly $30 million investment from Menora Mivtachim" in 2017. It was spent on "a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

development". In 2017, Nicole Kushner Meyer joined her brother Josh in Kushner Companies, serving as a principal. Meyer was criticized for mentioning her brother Jared's White House position during investor presentations that she gave in China when soliciting $150 million for 1 Journal Square in

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, New Jersey, causing her to cancel the rest of her roadshow appearances. In another dispute involving 1 Journal Square, the company is attempting to get $113,659 from the city to cover legal expenses. According to an August 2017 article in Bloomberg, the company was facing an increasingly "distressed situation" at the time. Over the previous few years, family members had sought substantial overseas investment to deal with "troubled finances". In the 2010s, developers such as the Kushner Companies widely used the EB-5 visa to fuel a "high-end US residential boom". In May 2017, Trump renewed the visa program in his first major piece of legislation. That September, the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

's office subpoenaed the Kushner Companies over the use of the EB-5 visa program to fund developments. In December 2017, the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

subpoenaed

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

records pertaining to Kushner Companies. ''The New York Times'' reported in May 2019 that anti-money laundering specialists in the bank detected what appeared to be suspicious transactions involving entities controlled by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, for which they recommended filing suspicious activity reports with the

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrori ...

of the Treasury Department, but bank executives rejected the recommendations. One specialist noted money moving from Kushner Companies to Russian individuals and flagged it in part because of the bank's previous involvement in a Russian money laundering scheme. In 2020,

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

and

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

reported that Kushner Companies received "a near-record sum" from government-backed lender

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.

Acquisitions

In 2003,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and Kushner Properties announced that the university had signed a 15-year lease for three floors, comprising of contiguous space, in the historic

, 295

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street ( ) is a major north–south street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs throu ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

neighborhood. In December 2006, the company announced plans to buy

for $1.8 billion, the biggest deal to date for an individual building in New York City history. In early 2007, Kushner bought the building for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.8 billion, the highest price ever paid for a single office building in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Elkies, Lauren (November 1, 2007)
"The Closing: Charles Kushner"
. '' The Real Deal''. Retrieved September 28, 2011.Bagli, Charles V. (December 7, 2006)
"A Big Deal, Even in Manhattan: A Tower Goes for $1.8 Billion"
. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved November 12, 2007. Four years later, rising debt forced Kushner to hand over 49.5% of the ownership of 666 Fifth Avenue to Vornado. Kushner had planned to demolish the existing structure and build one twice the size; Vornado's Steven Roth stated that this will not happen. The building, which represented significant debt for the company was leased in 2018. Kushner since shifted focus from his

real estate operations to the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

market. In July 2007, the Kushner Companies sold 17,500 apartments in the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New York, valued at $2 billion. Before that sale, the Companies had employed approximately 800 people. In August 2011, representatives from the Kushner Companies made a presentation to the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Agency proposing a scaled-back design concept for the Landings at Harborside, a residential development set to be built along the city's waterfront, and allowing rental housing instead of owner-occupied units as originally planned. The plan, which would have saved two historic Perth Amboy buildings, was endorsed by Mayor Wilda Diaz, quoted as saying, "Too many sites have been torn down. Let's restore them and use them for other purposes." She further said that Kushner sketched a concept for the courthouse that was incorporated into the redesign.Russell, Suzanne (September 16, 2011)
"Perth Amboy's Landings at Harborside project takes new direction"
''

Home News Tribune The ''Central New Jersey Home News Tribune'' is a daily newspaper serving Middlesex County, New Jersey. The paper has an average daily weekday circulation of about 49,000. The newspaper is the result of the 1995 merger of ''The Home News'' of E ...

''. On July 5, 2013, Kushner Companies signed an agreement to purchase a five-building complex in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, formerly used by

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

, for $340 million. The building is 95% owned by CIM Group. In 2016, Kushner Companies opened Trump Bay Street, a luxury 53-story apartment tower in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. The Kushners partnered with a company linked to

Beny Steinmetz Beny Steinmetz (; born 2 April 1956) is an Israeli businessman and entrepreneur, with a focus on the mining, energy, real estate and diamond-mining industries. He has been convicted of corrupt and illegal business practices in multiple countries ...

on the $250 million project, which was financed through a $30 million cash investment by the Kushners and $190 million in loans, including a $140 million construction loan from CIT Group and $50 million of investments from Chinese nationals purchasing EB-5 visas. By June 2017, the building had reached half occupancy and was valued at up to $360 million, leading the Kushners to seek $250 million in

refinancing Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under a different term and interest rate. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic ...

. Jared Kushner retained his interest in the building after becoming senior advisor to President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, his father-in-law. The company also owns properties in Long Branch, New Jersey as well as nearby Monmouth Mall, which Kushner acquired when it fully purchased the non-management

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with Vornado Realty Trust that owned the mall.

Controversies

In 2017, Nicole Kushner Meyer joined her brother Josh in Kushner Companies, serving as a principal. Meyer was criticized for mentioning her brother's White House position during investor presentations she gave in China when soliciting $150 million for 1 Journal Square in Jersey City, causing her to cancel the rest of her roadshow appearances. In another dispute involving 1 Journal Square, the company is attempting to get $113,659 from the city to cover legal expenses. ''Bloomberg'' reported in 2017 that the company was facing an increasingly "distressed situation". Over the preceding few years, family members have sought substantial overseas investment to deal with "troubled finances". In the 2010s, developers such as the Kushner Companies widely used the EB-5 visa to fuel a "high-end US residential boom". In May 2017, Trump renewed the visa program in his first major piece of legislation. That September, the

's office subpoenaed the Kushner Companies over the use of the EB-5 visa program to fund developments. In December 2017, the

subpoenaed

References

External links

*{{Official Companies based in Manhattan Privately held companies based in New York City Real estate companies of the United States Real estate companies established in 1985 Kushner family 1985 establishments in New York (state) 1985 establishments in the United States Companies established in 1985 Jared Kushner

History

Controversies

See also

References

External links