Gary Barnett
Extell founder, father of Billionaires' Row, Manhattan's master assembler
Who they are
Gary Barnett, the former diamond dealer who founded Extell Development, is in The Promote's telling the developer who invented Billionaires' Row. One57 and Central Park Tower made West 57th Street a market for nine-figure condos. He paid for them with money from all over: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bondholders, Shanghai state money, JPMorgan, the Reuben Brothers. His trademark is the patient, stealthy assemblage, and he often gets in through a side door. He took control of the Ring portfolio and part of Robert Gans's Hell's Kitchen holdings by way of their debt. He also reportedly got about $1,400 a foot out of Steve Roth for a sliver of the 220 Central Park South site. Not every bet has landed: The Promote calls Central Park Tower's sales a disappointment, and his TASE bonds have brought drama.
His recent run has been cycle-defining. Extell finished assembling a full Fifth Avenue blockfront for a 1.1M sf tower anchored by Ikea and Simpson Thacher. It bought 655 Madison for $160M, lined up a reported $450M retail deal with Chanel, and landed a $1.1B construction loan from Tyko. TASE filings show a $1.2B preferred-equity commitment across nine projects. Outside New York he struck a 100-plus-year deal for Deer Valley to operate his Utah ski terrain, and he is negotiating to develop about 125 acres in central Jerusalem.
In 2026, Extell went into contract on a Park Avenue assemblage at 405-417 Park, plus Central Synagogue air rights. It also paid $19M for the old Friars Club, which The Promote suspects is a move to relocate the Brook. With Joseph Tabak, he plans ABBA Voyage's first U.S. venue on 11th Avenue. He closed a $1.3B JPMorgan-led package for The Torch in Times Square and is in talks on a $3.8B loan for the former ABC campus. He named Andrew Chung co-CEO. Meanwhile an EB-5 investor has sued him for $100M, alleging deception.
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