NY skyscraper gets Chinese cash boost

In a bid to keep its planned Central Park Tower afloat, Extell Development Co agreed to a deal that might one day force it to part with the luxury condo project.

A joint venture with China's SMI USA to build the $3 billion skyscraper on Manhattan's Billionaires' Row comes with a deadline: If a construction loan isn't obtained by May 24, SMI can require Extell to buy out its stake in the partnership - about $300 million - with interest. And if Extell fails to do that, SMI can push the developer to sell the entire project, according to documents filed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, where Extell sells debt to investors.

"If I thought there was a more than 1 percent chance of that happening, I wouldn't put that in there," Extell's president, Gary Barnett, said in an interview. "We're going to get the construction loan."