Moving fast before an auction got fully-formed, Jeff Sutton and GGP have signed a deal to purchase the coveted Crown Building just days after it came onto the market, The Post has learned.
The duo , sources said, are paying roughly $1.75 billion for the trophy building at 730 Fifth Avenue, at 57th Street — at the intersection of the city’s most expensive real-estate crossroads.
Bergdorf Goodman, LVMH and Tiffany anchor the other three corners of the intersection, making this property a once-in-a-lifetime luxury prize.
In fact, Sutton already owns the buildings housing the nearby Prada and Abercrombie & Fitch stores.
The sellers of the tower where Bulgari and Mikimoto ply gems and pearls are the Winter and Spitzer families. Neither David Winter, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Sutton nor GGP returned calls for comment.
Famous for its golden top, the striking Art Deco tower was once owned by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos before a military-backed revolt toppled their regime.
The 400,000 square-foot tower’s tenants include talent and literary agency ICM, private-equity giants KKR and Apollo Global Management and men’s designer Ermenegildo Zegna.
Some 35,000 square feet is retail that includes Bank of America and Piaget along with Bulgari and Mikimoto.
Marketing efforts by Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies of Eastdil Secured led to interest from around the world but they put the building into contract this week with the fast acting Sutton and GGP, now led by Sendeep Mathrani.
The Winter and Spitzer families laid out more than $93.6 million for the half-empty, 25-story building when they bought it in a 1991 court-ordered sale from the Philipine government. Ferdinand Marcos had secretly purchased it years earlier.
In a funny coincidence, the Crown once had many men’s-shoe showrooms. Imelda Marcos was famous for her shoe collection.
