By Kim Velsey 11/26/12 8:45am

Manhattan Transfers

Sold! The board has accepted Iseman's $22.5 bid to become the next owner of 8W.

Frederick Iseman Closes on Huguette Clark Spread for $22.5 M.

Looking to wow the board of 907 Fifth Avenue? A high-paying job in finance seems to be just the ticket.

The board has accepted Frederick Iseman’s $22.5 million bid to buy the park-facing eighth-floor apartment that belonged to late copper heiress Huguette Clark—one of the three in the building. Mr. Iseman made the bid in mid-summer, after the board reportedly blocked Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani’s move to snap up both of Clark’s eighth-floor apartments to create one the largest floor-throughs on Fifth Avenue. Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/16/12 2:30pm

Manhattan Transfers

The heiress in 1989. (New York Magazine)

The Real Estate Whims of Libet Johnson: Heiress Looking to Sell the Vanderbilt Mansion, Lusting After Huguette Clark Spread

The problem with getting what you want is that sometimes, once you have it, you don’t want it anymore. The Observer has learned that Libet Johnson is looking to offload the Vanderbilt Mansion, the stately neo-Georgian mansion at 16 East 69th Street that she spent $48 million to buy scarcely more than a year ago.

Sources tell us that Ms. Johnson has been quietly shopping the townhouse around, hoping to sell for a price in the mid-$50 million range. Which does not come as a huge surprise—the heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and the sister of NY Jets Owner and Romney bundler Woody Johnson has a reputation for falling in, and out, of love with extravagant real estate. She bought the townhouse, sans broker, from her friend and fellow heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and Ms. Barnett’s husband, the founder of beauty.com. What’s a $48 million townhouse between friends? Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/02/12 7:20pm

Manhattan Transfers

clark

CI Capital Partners Private Equity Chief Frederick Iseman Bids On Huguette Clark Apartment

Huguette Clark’s eighth floor apartments at 907 Fifth Avenue, despite sitting empty for years while the late copper heiress took up residence in a hospital suite, may not be empty forever.

Frederick Iseman, the CEO and chairman of CI Capital Partners, has put in a bid of $22.5 million for one of the eighth-floor apartments belonging to Clark, The Observer has learned from sources familiar with the deal. The deal is awaiting co-op board approval. Read More

By Kim Velsey 7/02/12 10:49am

Stratospheric Sales

The Rebound.

Is the Qatari Prime Minister the Buyer of $90 M. Penthouse At One57?

You can’t always get what you want, but it seems that Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani finally got what he needed (and if anyone can be said to need a massive apartment, it’s a man with two wives and 15 children). After courting co-op board after co-op board, Mr. Hamad has finally found a home, according to the New York Post. And not just any home, but the $90 penthouse at One57, which is poised to set the record for most expensive condo ever sold. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/23/12 3:15pm

Burdensome bequests

Only the dolls know the real story, and they're not talking (Sherry's Rose Cottage, flickr)

Huguette Clark Estate Goes After $44 Million In Gifts Given By Late Heiress

Let the battle begin! The cash has yet to come in on the sale of late copper heiress Huguette Clark’s Fifth Avenue 12th-floor apartment (in contract since April), but the fight over her fortune is already underway.

The executor of Clark’s estate has filed a legal petition asking the court to order Clark’s staff to repay the $44 million in gifts that she gave them on top of salaries, according to a story on msnbc.com.

Clark, who died at the age of 104 with a fortune of $400 million and no direct heirs, authorized many gifts from her vast estate over the years. After her death, distant relatives sued, claiming that her fortune had been mismanaged. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/08/12 11:37am

Rejections

Too much of a hassle?

What Was the Co-op Board Rejection of Huguette Clark Bid Really About?

Did the co-op board at 907 Fifth Avenue  really hate the idea of making a full-floor apartment out of Huguette Clark’s two 8th-floor residences? Or do they just hate children?

Following our report yesterday that Clark’s mega-apartment sale fell through, reportedly because the board didn’t like the bidder’s plans to combine the units, the New York Post IDs the reason as too many kids. That’s a new one. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/07/12 3:09pm

Manhattan Transfers

The deal that almost was

Huguette Clark Apartment Sale Falls Through After Board Rejects Combo Plan

The two apartments spanning the eighth floor of 907 Fifth Avenue will retain their lost-in-time, Butterfield 8 style for a little while longer. A bid on reclusive copper heiress Huguette Clark’s neighboring co-ops was rejected by the board.

A single buyer had planned to combine 8W and 8E, creating a massive full-floor apartment that would have been one of largest floor-through homes on the park, a source familiar with the deal said, but the co-op board nixed the plan to combine the units. Read More

By Kim Velsey 4/03/12 10:10am

Manhattan Transfers

Who could complain about all this space? (BHS)

Buyer Strikes Copper Vein: Huguette Clark’s 907 Fifth Penthouse In Contract

Despite its many reported anachronisms, the penthouse of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark did not stay on the market for long. Unit 12w of 907 Fifth Avenue has entered into contract in less than a month, according to the Brown Harris Stevens listing held by Mary Rutherfurd and Leslie Coleman.

The list price for the massive apartment that stretches the full length of Fifth Avenue and faces the park was $24 million, much less than many similar listings. The likely reason was that despite Clark’s careful maintenance of her many properties, the place definitely needed some work. Read More

By Matt Chaban 3/08/12 10:40am

Dust Bin

An original floorplan—so much space!

Huguette Clark’s Massive Home Has a Broker, Smaller Price Tag—Only $45 M. to $60 M.

For almost a year now, Upper East Side brokers have been falling all over themselves to win the right to sell mysterious mining heiress Huguette Clark’s massive Fifth Avenue spread, with its 42 rooms and estimated price tag of $60 million to $70 million. Well, the battle is over, and now that people have actually seen the place, they are not sure it is worth quite so much. Who’s to blame? Those pesky co-op boards, of course. Read More