Chinese buyer pays $70M for Sherry-Netherland co-op

A Chinese buyer has purchased a $70 million a co-op at the Sherry Netherland from travel agency co-founder Gilbert Haroche.

It’s reportedly the first time that the co-op board of the iconic building at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street has allowed a foreign buyer to pick up a unit in the building, according to the New York Post.

Haroche, the co-founder of Liberty Travel, and his wife Charlene had listed the full-floor co-op for $95 million in 2012. While the asking price would have broken the record for the most expensive co-op ever sold, the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom unit is still among the highest fetching co-ops in the city.

Leonard Blavatnik still holds the record, with the $80 million purchase of Jets owner Woody Johnson’s sprawling duplex on the 11th and 12th floors of 834 Fifth Avenue. Other record-breaking co-op sales include Israel Englander’s $71.3 million unit — formerly the French ambassador’s residence — at 740 Park Avenue and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiri’s purchase of the late Edgar Bronfman’s five-bedroom penthouse for $70 million. [NYP] — Claire Moses