Qatar PM’s US$31.5m bid for NY apartments rejected

Qatar’s prime minister has had a US$31.5m bid for two New York apartments owned by a deceased heiress rejected by the building’s co-op board after it raised concerned about the security requirements which would need to be put in place by having of a prominent foreign leader among its residents. According to US reports, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani’s bid to buy two apartments owned by the estate of Huguette Marcelle Clark, the deceased heiress to a US$400m Montana copper fortune, was turned down at the weekend. Sources told MSNBC the building’s co-op's board declined the Qatari’s bid because “the quiet character of the elegant building would change with the security demands of a foreign leader.” Clark died aged 104 year old in May, leaving three apartments, including one at 907 Fifth Avenue, a second at East 72nd Street and a third overlooking Central Park's Conservatory Water, near the statute of Alice in Wonderland. Sheikh Hamad reportedly bid US$31m for two of the apartments at an auction. While the Qatari’s bid was believed to be US$500,000 more than the asking price, it was not the highest bid, MSNBC said. Other bidders are believed to have included the founder of a private-equity firm and the founder of a hedge-fund firm, but it is not known why the Clark estate decided in favour of the lower Qatari bid. The rejection by the co-op’s board means the Clark estate will now have to consider alternative offers for the apartments. MSNBS reported that Sheikh Hamad would have been close neighbours with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, his cousin and the emir of Qatar, who is said to own a house a few blocks from the apartment building and located between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue.