Isaac and Richard Chera

The real estate industry lost one of its titans when Stanley Chera died in April 2020 from coronavirus complications.

The Crown Acquisitions founder and philanthropist had been a longtime friend of President Donald Trump’s, and an early financial backer for his presidential campaign when few in the real estate community took Trump’s political aspirations seriously.

They continued to keep in touch regularly. When the pandemic began to spread across the city, Trump advised Chera to leave New York for a summer home. Chera moved, but came down with COVID-19 in late March 2020 and sought treatment at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Chera’s death prompted the president to begin taking the pandemic more seriously.

“The speed and the viciousness, especially if it gets the right person, it’s horrible,” Trump said. He also sent his condolences to the family, writing: “My deepest sympathies go out to Frieda Chera and the family of the late great, Stanley Chera, one of Manhattan’s most brilliant real estate minds.”

Chera’s sons, Isaac and Richard, have continued their father’s legacy at the firm known for its deals involving properties, such as the St. Regis building, 650 Madison Avenue, and Olympic Tower. (Their other brother, Haim Chera, moved to Vornado Realty Trust when Crown Acquisitions acquired a 24 percent stake in that company’s retail business.)

Isaac and Richard are hoping to cash in on the SPAC craze, too. They’ve been raising $200 million for a special purpose acquisition company to acquire a startup focused on software or hardware that enhances the value of infrastructure and other real estate properties.

The family still has plenty of brick-and-mortar assets to protect as well. Crown Acquisitions sued the Science, Language, and Arts International School in Downtown Brooklyn in April for $6.1 million in back rent and $18.4 million in damages.—A.S.