Jared Kushner's $500 million investment deal in Serbia mirrors plans Donald Trump had a decade ago

• Jared Kushner is partnering with Serbian officials to build a luxury hotel in Belgrade, per the NYT.
• The $500 million contract mirrors plans Donald Trump had made nearly a decade ago, per the outlet.

A tentative deal has been struck between Jared Kushner, his investment firm Affinity Partners, and Serbian officials to build a luxury hotel in Belgrade. And it looks remarkably similar to decade-old plans Kushner's father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, once had, per The New York Times.

The $500 million contract, which The Times reviewed a draft of, offers Kushner a 99-year lease at no charge in exchange for his company's development of the hotel, a museum, and luxury residential units.

The development would be built at the site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense headquarters in Serbia's capitol of Belgrade.

The Trump Organization previously eyed the location as a potential plot to develop into a luxury hotel, but The Times reported a deal couldn't be inked before Trump was elected president in 2016.

Despite the close ties to his wife's father's business, Kushner says he never spoke with Trump about current and former development plans in the area.

"I had no idea my father-in-law had been interested in that region, and I doubt he has any awareness of this deal we are working on," Kushner told The Times.

The draft of the new deal included a clause that offers Kushner an opportunity to take ownership of the property for free once the development is complete, the outlet reported. Kushner told The Times that the parties had reached a tentative agreement for the Serbian government to receive a 22% share of the project's profits.

Representatives for Kushner and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Kushner, once a key advisor in the Trump White House, and his wife, Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, have quietly distanced themselves from Trump's inner circle in recent years.

Bloomberg reported Kushner recently ruled out re-joining the Trump administration if his father-in-law wins his reelection bid. Similarly, Ivanka has stayed off the campaign trail, saying she's "done" with politics.

Even after distancing himself from the Trump administration, Kushner has made big money through his investment and development firms. He received $2 billion in Saudi-backed funds roughly six months after leaving the White House, and he had mixed success fundraising for his investment firm in the Persian Gulf.