Property developer Sharif El-Gamal has secured $219m in sharia-compliant financing for a luxury condominium tower two blocks from the World Trade Center in New York, where he sparked global controversy in 2010 for proposing to build a mosque.
房地产开发商谢里夫•贾迈勒(Sharif El-Gamal)为一处豪华公寓楼获得一笔2.19亿美元的符合伊斯兰教义的融资,该公寓楼距离纽约世贸中心(World Trade Center)两个街区。2010年,他曾因提出在这里建造一座清真寺在全球受到争议。
The financing, led by Malaysia’s Maybank and Kuwait’s Warba Bank, is the largest sharia-compliant syndicated construction loan in New York, Mr El-Gamal said, bringing to the forefront what he called “the safest kind of banking in the world”. Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo and MASIC, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s Al Subeaei family, also participated in the loan package.
贾迈勒表示,这笔融资由马来西亚的Maybank和科威特的Warba Bank领衔,是纽约最大一笔符合伊斯兰教义的银团建设贷款,这将他所谓的“全球最安全的银行类型”带到人们面前。意大利的Intesa Sanpaolo和MASIC也参与了这笔贷款,这两家机构是沙特阿拉伯Al Subeaei家族的投资机构。
Mr El-Gamal’s Soho Properties has been seeking financing for the 665-ft skyscraper at a time when US banks have pulled back from luxury property as some in the industry warn of a glut in supply. He says he has begun sales for the 50 units at 45 Park Place priced on average north of $3,000 per square foot, higher than the $1,809 average for Manhattan condominiums, according to data from the Corcoran Group.
贾迈勒的Soho Properties一直在为这座高665英尺的大楼寻找资金,此际,美国银行已从豪华地产领域撤出,因为该行业的一些人士警告称供应过剩。他表示,他开始以平均每平方英尺逾3000美元的价格销售位于45 Park Place的这栋有50户的大楼,根据Corcoran Group的数据,这超过曼哈顿公寓1809美元的平均售价。
Attracting lenders was also difficult because of the political climate in the US, where the rise in popularity of Donald Trump has been off-putting to some foreign banks, Mr El-Gamal said. “There were lenders that wanted to be part of this deal, but once some of the sentiments were heard . . . they decided this is not the time for them to deploy more money into our economy. There is absolutely a level of concern [about Mr Trump].”
此外,贾迈勒表示,由于美国的政治气候,该项目吸引银行很困难。在美国,唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)受欢迎程度的提高令一些外国银行厌恶。“一些银行希望参与该项目,但在听到一些看法后……他们认为,现在不是他们把更多资金投入我们的经济的时候。他们肯定是(对特朗普)有些担心。”
He says this skyscraper still marks a success for his original vision for the site, because of the connections to lenders from the Middle East and sharia loans. “We have held firm to our principles,” Mr El-Gamal said. “We’ve done what we always said we would with this project, which is to build bridges that did not exist.”
他表示,因为与中东和符合伊斯兰教义贷款的银行的联系,这栋大楼标志着他最初梦想的成功。“我们一直坚持我们的原则,”贾迈勒表示,“我们在这个项目上实现了我们一直所说的目标,那就是架起以前不存在的桥梁。”