The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is set to acquire a 24% stake in a New York real estate portfolio worth that includes a number of iconic Manhattan properties.
The sovereign wealth fund (SWF) has partnered with US real estate group, Crown Acquisitions, which is also taking a 24% stake in the portfolio formerly run by Vornado Realty Trust.
Included within the portfolio, estimated to be worth around $5.6 million, are the St Regis hotel on Times Square, and more than 900,000 square feet of retail space on Fifth Avenue which count the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Polo and Salvatore Ferragamo as tenants.
“This investment underlines QIA’s ambition to substantially increase our US investments over the coming years, and our belief in the exciting long-term possibilities offered by New York City,” said Mansoor Al-Mahmoud, chief executive of QIA.
However the deal is likely to attract some scrutiny given the close links between the Qatari royal family and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US president Donald Trump. Kushner’s property business was aided by a property deal back in 2018 in which it leased part of the 666 Fifth Avenue property to Brookfield Asset Management, in which the QIA has invested in the past.
The transaction followed an earlier deal in which Vornado sold its stake in the top of the tower back to Kushner while retaining the bottom half of the tower which houses several high profile retail names and in which the QIA now holds a stake.
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