The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously signed off today on a gut renovation of the Carlton House Hotel, according to an announcement from Extell Development, which is overseeing the project with partner Angelo Gordon & Company.

The partners picked up the property from the Helmsley estate last March for $170 million, closing it this past February in order to prepare for a conversion.

Originally built in 1951 as the Helmsley Carlton House, the building at 680 Madison Avenue currently contains 157 hotel and residential units, which were being vacated by the developers as their leases expired. Among the changes now planned: a two-story addition and two new infill buildings on the building’s north and south sides, an upgrade to its 32,000-square-foot retail space and a restoration of the exterior façade, Extell said today. – Sarabeth Sanders… [more]

Leona Helmsley and New York Helmsley HotelHost Hotels & Resorts, the real estate investment trust that owns the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, the St. Regis in Houston and 102 other luxury properties, has struck a deal to buy the New York Helmsley Hotel for between $310 million and $315 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal, which works out to at least $401,000 per room, is the latest in a slow-moving liquidation process of the estate of Leona Helmsley, who died in 2007. … [more]

Leona Helmsley’s Greenwich, Conn. estate has sold for $35 million, less than a third of its original $125 million listing price and 36 percent off its last asking price of $55 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Still, the sale makes Dunnellen Hall, as the 40-acre property is called, one of the most expensive homes ever sold in the posh town. The property, acquired by the Helmsley family in 1983 for $11 million, includes a 22,000-square-foot mansion, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts and two guest cottages. It was at the center of a federal tax evasion case in which Helmsley and her husband, Harry, were accused of putting $3 million of their company’s funds into renovations of the property. Leona Helmsley, who was convicted and served under two years in prison, died in 2007 at age 87. Proceeds from the sale of the Greenwich estate will go to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, which owns much the couple’s real estate holdings, including a stake in the Empire State Building with the Malkin family that is reportedly up for sale. [WSJ]

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The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is looking to further reduce its $2.6 billion portfolio by selling stakes in some of the nine Midtown office buildings — including the Empire State Building — that it owns through partnerships with the Malkin family, Crain’s reported. The buildings are known as the W & H Portfolio, which is headed by Anthony Malkin. Members of the trust have reportedly met for preliminary talks with Malkin, bankers and attorneys, and ideas on the table include creating a public real estate investment trust for the buildings, each of which is currently structured as a separate entity. Meanwhile, according to the Post, the 788-room New York Helmsley hotel at 212 East 42nd Street, which is not part of the W & H Portfolio, has also hit the market. CB Richard Ellis brokers Darcy Stacom, Bill Shanahan and Brad Brunnell are handling the sale, which sources expect to garner more than $300 million. That same team helped sell the Helmsley Carlton House on the Upper East Side to Angelo Gordon & Co. and Gary Barnett for $170 million earlier this year. Barnett plans to convert the Upper East Side property into a condominium. [Crain's] and [Post]

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From left: Laurence Gluck, 666 West End Avenue and 752 West End Avenue (building photos’ source: PropertyShark)

Two unrelated apartment owners with checkered ownership records,
Laurence Gluck and David Bistricer, are each in contract to buy large
apartment… [more]