Another sovereign sale as Kingdom of Lesotho unloads Murray Hill building

CB Developers pays $7.62M for African enclave’s property adjacent to firm’s resi project

From left: 204-206 East 39th Street and a rendering of CB Development's building at 200 East 39th Street
From left: 204-206 East 39th Street and a rendering of CB Development's building at 200 East 39th Street

Another nation has unloaded a piece of New York real estate. This time, the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho – an enclave in South Africa that is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland – has sold 204 East 39th Street to Charles Blaichman’s CB Developers, according to property records filed today.

CB Developers paid $7.6 million for the four-story building, which is adjacent to its Murray Hill residential project, at 200 East 39th Street, where it is building an 18-story building with 91 planned units. The building will measure 95,000 square feet, with 6,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

In June, Israel Englander purchased the official residence of the French ambassador to the United Nations for $70 million. The 18-room duplex is located at 740 Park Avenue.

And in July, the West African nation of Burkina Faso sold its five-story townhouse at 115 East 73 Street for $17.3 million to art dealer Per Skarstedt.

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The Kingdom of Lesotho, which gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966, bought the building in 1989 for an unknown price. It previously housed the country’s permanent mission to the United Nations.

CB Developers declined to comment on the acquisition. But last year, plans to demolish the four-story structure were filed with the city’s Department of Buildings, according to property records.

CB Developers’ mixed-use retail and rental building is being co-developed with SK Development Group and Ironstate Development. CB Developers is also responsible for the Highline Building at 450 West 14th Street as well as Reade Chambers, a condo tower in Tribeca, and the Jefferson, a residential building in the East Village.