Stanley Chera

Stanley Chera is a New York real estate developer and founder of Crown Acquisitions. He was born in 1942 to a Syrian Jewish family. Stanley Chera and Isaac Chera Sr. founded and ran a chain of regional children's specialty stores in urban metro areas for three generations. Shortly after opening their first stores, the Cheras began acquiring the buildings they operated out of, then the buildings nearby, and within a generation real estate had emerged as a core, competitive competency. Crown invests based on experiences as an owner, operator, landlord and tenant. Chera started purchasing real estate in New York City in the 1980s, at first as a minority partner and, in the 2000s, as the lead developer. He is known for developing or "repositioning" the retail portion of his buildings and then selling the properties. In a joint venture with the Carlyle Group and Charles Kushner, he sold the retail portion of 666 Fifth Avenue in two transactions for more than $1 billion. In 2010, he began the restoration of the the Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan. In June 2013, Chera purchased 650 Madison Avenue for $1.3 billion in partnership with Highgate Holdings from the Carlyle Group. He is an investor in One World Trade Center and has accumulated a lot of property in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Chera'’s Crown was also part of a large partnership that included Feil Organization and BLDG Management, which sold the retail at the St. Regis Hotel at 2 East 55th Street in 2012 for $380.6 million three years after buying it for $117 million. In 2009, Crown held 15 million square feet of real estate in New York City. Chera has three sons: Haim Chera, Isaac (Ike) Chera and Richard Chera, who are all active in the family business.