Harry Helmsley
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Harry Brakmann Helmsley | |
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Born | March 4, 1909 New York City, U.S. |
Died | January 4, 1997 Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. | (aged 87)
Occupation | Real estate developer |
Spouse(s) | Eve Ella Sherpick Green (divorced) |
Harry Brakmann Helmsley (March 4, 1909 – January 4, 1997) was an American real estate billionaire whose company, Helmsley-Spear, became one of the country's biggest property holders, owning the Empire State Building and many of New York's most prestigious hotels. His second marriage to Leona Roberts ("Queen of Mean") led to charges of false accounting and tax evasion as well as a celebrated trial, where Harry was judged too frail to plead, but Leona was fined and jailed.
Early career
Harry Helmsley was the son of Henry Helmsley, a wholesale dry goods buyer, and the former Minnie Brakmann. He was born in
Notable properties and companies
In 1954, Helmsley bought the
In 1961, Helmsley bought the Empire State Building—then the tallest building in the world—despite warnings that the maintenance costs would be too high.[2] Other notable New York office properties that Helmsley owned during his career included the Helmsley Building (230 Park Avenue), the Graybar Building (420 Lexington Avenue), the Flatiron Building (175 Fifth Avenue), the Fisk Building (250 West 57th Street), the Toy Center (200 Fifth Avenue) and 1350 Broadway.[1] He also invested in large residential properties including Park West Village on Manhattan's west side, Tudor City on the east side, and in Fresh Meadows in Queens and Parkchester in the Bronx. Industrial properties included the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Manhattan and Bush Terminal in the Bronx.[1]
During the 1970s and 1980s, Helmsley began investing in hotels. Among his holdings were the Helmsley
In addition to Helmsley-Spear, which had 450 employees by 1980, he also owned Brown Harris Stevens, Inc., a residential brokerage firm.[1] Helmsley bought Brown Harris Stevens in 1964. In addition to its high-end residential brokerage business, the company managed residential buildings, including some of the most prestigious co-ops on Park and Fifth Avenues and Central Park West. When Helmsley sold the business in 1995, the company managed 128 buildings.[3]
Helmsley became known as the most influential real estate magnate in the city. In addition to his activities in Manhattan, in the early 1970s Helmsley built the Palace on Brickell, a 254-unit residential condominium tower located along Miami's prestigious Brickell Avenue.[4]
Helmsley's success was attributed largely to a gift for salesmanship, a willingness to delegate authority, and a less-usual acquisition policy of long-term fixed-rate mortgages during a slump and cash purchases when interest rates were low. This policy has since become standard in real estate.
Marriage to Leona
In 1938, he had married a widow, Eve Ella Sherpick Green. In 1971, he divorced her and the next year married Leona Roberts, vice-president of one of his many companies. She was a high-profile manager, dynamic but abrasive ("Queen of Mean"), and she demanded a luxurious lifestyle, quite unlike the modest private life he had been living until then. Basing themselves in a penthouse in the Helmsley-owned
His crown jewel was New York's 50-story Helmsley Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue at Fiftieth Street. The hotel opened in 1980 to great fanfare and soon became known as the city's most elegant venue. However, it marked the beginning of financial and legal troubles that would dog the marriage until Harry's death. Partly due to Leona's extravagant plans and frequent demands for changes, the cost of the building skyrocketed, and it was proved that they had contracted some work out to their own subsidiaries at inflated prices. In 1988, they were also charged with major tax evasion based on false accounting. By this time, Harry was judged too frail to plead but Leona served 18 months in prison, in addition to being heavily fined.
Death
Helmsley died of
In popular culture
Helmsley's marriage to Leona was dramatized in the 1990 TV movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, which starred
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Oser, Alan S. (1997-01-06). "Harry Helmsley Is Dead at 87; Amassed Billions in Property". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
- ^ Lueck, Thomas J. (1995-03-04). "Helmsley Sells Brokerage In '94 Kickback Scandal". The New York Times. p. 22.
- ^ Bandell, Brian (February 17, 2023). "Alicia Cervera Sr. named SFBJ's 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- ^ Lombardi, Kate Stone, "COUNTY LINES; Why Leona Buried Harry Not Once, But Twice", The New York Times, April 23, 2006
- IMDb