The prime minister of Qatar — Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani — will reportedly pay nearly $100 million for a luxury condo occupying two floors of a new building, One57, towering 1,000 feet over Manhattan.
The 10,923-square-foot pad will serve as a home away from home for the sheik, his two wives and their 15 children, the New York Post reported. The sheik is also in negotiations to buy four other floors of the 90-story building at 157 W. 57th St., which would bring the total size of the transaction to about $250 million, the Post said, citing unnamed sources.
The sheik reportedly settled on One57 after being shunned by co-op boards, including one governing a Fifth Avenue building where two apartments owned by the estate of the heiress Huguette Clark are for sale.
Co-op boards "have balked at the sheer number of people" the sheik would bring to a building, the Post reported, noting that "his gun-toting security detail would likely follow him around and surround the building when he is in town."
The sheik also has diplomatic immunity, "which could hamper any building’s attempt to legally address any issues that might come up" such as collecting unpaid bills, the newspaper said.
