FIGHTING DIRTY?

Report: Trump Administration to Seize Control of Chinese-Owned NYC Building

Site owned by conglomerate HNA has NYPD precinct house on its ground floor.

Amid heightened tensions with Beijing over trade, the Trump administration is preparing to seize a majority stake in a New York City building owned by a Chinese conglomerate on national-security grounds, the New York Post reports. The 575,000-square-foot building at 850 Third Ave. is reportedly under the control of HNA, a Chinese company that has come under scrutiny by U.S. regulators for its opaque ownership structure. But with the NYPD’s 17th Precinct located on the ground floor on one side of the building, the Trump administration is reportedly seeking to use the newly expanded powers of the Committee on Foreign Investors in the United States to take control of the building. “This is coming from the White House,” a source was quoted as saying by the Post. HNA has previously butted heads with CFIUS, which monitors the national-security implications of foreign real-estate investments. The Chinese conglomerate agreed to buy Anthony Scaramucci’s majority stake in SkyBridge Capital in 2017, only to pull out of the deal last April due to delays caused by its CFIUS review.