Stanley Chera in Contract To Buy Stake in St. Regis Retail Condo
By Dana Rubinstein September 16, 2009 5:19 pm
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Developer Stanley Chera, whose Crown Acquisitions has been shopping for real estate since at least June, when it lost out to Vornado and Syms in a bid to buy Filene’s Basement (and all of its attendant real estate), is now in contract to buy the St. Regis retail condo at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street from Starwood (STWD) Hotels, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
Mr. Chera is rumored to be partnering with Lloyd Goldman and The Feil Organization in the acquisition, say sources. Their involvement could not be confirmed by press time. Nor could the precise price be nailed down, though it’s said to be somewhere in the $125 million range.
The Fifth Avenue retail space houses lavish, prelapsarian boutiques by De Beers, Emilio Pucci, and Bottega Veneta and sits smackdab in the middle of New York’s most coveted retail strip, recession or no recession.
It’s unclear how big of a stake the investors are in contract to buy. Neither Mr. Chera, nor Mr. Goldman, nor Feil’s acquisitions head, Jay Anderson, responded to requests for comment by deadline. Nor did Starwood Hotels broker Darcy Stacom of CB Richard Ellis.
In June, The Observer first reported that Starwood had hired Ms. Stacom to market the space, after the hotelier received an unsolicited bid for the retail condominium.
drubinstein@observer.com
