Jordanian Princess wins Pierre Hotel apartment after years-long legal battle

The sprawling Pierre Hotel duplex apartment owned by late financier Lionel Pincus has been handed over to Pincus’ longtime companion, Princess Firyal of Jordan, after years of legal disputes. Pincus, who died in October after being incapacitated since 2003, had left the 7,000-square-foot co-op to the Princess in the case that he still owned it at the time of his death. When Pincus’ sons listed the apartment on the market in 2007, attempting to sell it first for $50 million, and then for $35 million by March 2008, Firyal tried to block the sale. The brothers had argued that the upkeep on the unit was too expensive, and that they planned to donate the sale’s proceeds to charity, but that Firyal was impeding their efforts. Court documents show that a settlement was filed Oct. 15, days after Pincus’ death, and the apartment was no longer listed on the market as of Oct. 19. Brokers told the New York Times that Firyal would need the co-op board’s approval if she were to try to sell the apartment. [NYT]