CEO to CEO: Mitsui Fudosan head buys co-op from another chief exec

Call it a deal done at the highest levels. 

A co-op unit at the Beresford on the Upper West Side changed hands with chief executives on both sides of the deal. Former Continental Airlines head Gordon Bethune sold Unit 3E at 211 Central Park West to Mitsui Fudosan CEO John Westerfield for $5.54 million, according to documents filed with the city Tuesday.

The home is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom unit that faces Central Park. Its more unique features include a living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a library with a bar.  It also contains a private bedroom wing that leads to the master bedroom, an eat-in kitchen with a breakfast area and a separate laundry area. Bethune bought the apartment for $5.9 million in 2009.

Bethune, who is credited with reviving Continental Airlines in the ‘90s, served as the CEO of the company between 1994 and 2004.  He left the company before it merged with United Airlines. He has served on the boards of Sprint and Honeywell after leaving Continental.

Westerfield, meanwhile, was named to the top post of Mitsui Fudosan’s American offshoot in 2015. He has directed major acquisitions for the Japanese firm, the largest of which is its purchase of a 90 percent stake in 55 Hudson Yards. That transaction gave the building a valuation of $4 billion, making it the most expensive office development in the city’s history.

Westerfield joins a cast of heavyweights who call the building home. Current residents include former Lehman Brothers executive Robert Millard and Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle. It has also been home to celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, John McEnroe, Glenn Close and Helen Gurley Brown.