That still doesn't make him a partner with the Sultan, unless the AP got the facts wrong.
http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/599946-1.html
230 Park Avenue is sold for $705m.
From Real Estate Weekly: Oct 19, 2005 issue
Monday Properties may not have triumphed in its bid to purchase 230 Park Avenue, which was sold this week for $705 million to Dubai's crown prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, but it may still get an equity interest.
The firm, along with real estate securitization company Island Capital, acted as advisors to the Sheikh in the tightly contested bid for the 1.4 million s/f property and both could be given an ownership interest by the time the sale closes, sources familiar with the deal say.
Contrary to published reports, the Sheikh currently is the sole purchaser of the asset.
Monday has been the manager and leasing agent for 230 Park Avenue since 1999 when real estate investor, Robert Bass, purchased the property for $250 million.
Bass, who was the seller in the recent transaction, sold nearby 237 Park Avenue to Monday Properties in 2003, and it was no secret that Monday desired 230 Park Avenue as well. But when the property's price climbed into the stratosphere and out of Monday's range, the firm used its relationship with Bass and intimate knowledge of the asset to help give the Sheikh the inside track, according to sources.
In addition to its potential ownership stake, Monday Properties will continue to operate 230 Park Avenue.
The building is home to several high profile financial tenants, including insurance giant, Swiss Re, and investment bankers, ING.
The Sheikh has been an active investor in the US recently. In July his Dubai Holdings Group purchased the 605-room Essex House hotel in Manhattan for $400 million. Earlier this year, DIG, an affiliate of Dubai Holdings, became one of the largest residential property owners in the US with its purchase of a $1 billion multi-family portfolio in partnership with The Milestone group.
CBRE's Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan handled the sale for Bass.
That still doesn't make him a partner with the Sultan, unless the AP got the facts wrong.