Stanley Isaac Chera (October 22, 1942 – April 11, 2020) was an American billionaire, businessman and investor. The founder of Crown Acquisitions. Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to a

Syrian Jewish Syrian Jews ( ''Yehudey Surya'', ''al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn'', colloquially called SYs in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin ...

family, Chera started purchasing real estate in New York City in the 1980s, first as a minority partner and later in the 2000s as the lead developer. In 2017, his net worth was estimated at $4 billion. Chera had a wife and three sons. Chera died due to complications brought on by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Early life

Chera was born on October 22, 1942, in

, New York City, to a

family. In 1947, his father Isaac Chera opened a retail store called ''Young World'' in Brooklyn. The family later purchased the building and grew ''Young World'' into a chain purchasing the buildings as they expanded.

Career

In the 1980s, Chera (then in charge of the family company) started purchasing real estate in New York City at first as a minority partner and later in 2000s as the lead developer. Chera was known for developing or "repositioning" the retail portion of his buildings and then selling the property. In a joint venture with

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

and Charles Kushner, Chera sold the retail portion of

666 Fifth Avenue 660 Fifth Avenue (formerly 666 Fifth Avenue and the Tishman Building) is a 41-story office building on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. The off ...

in two transactions for more than $1 billion;The Real Deal: "$1.3B sale of 650 Madison hinges on dramatic increase in retail value, sources say" by Adam Pincus
June 3, 2013 and also the retail portion of the St. Regis Hotel in a joint venture with Lloyd Goldman and

Jeffrey Feil Jeffrey Feil is a New York-based real estate developer and president and CEO of The Feil Organization. Early life and education Feil was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, the only son of Gertrude (née Cohen) and Louis Feil. His father fir ...

for $380 million.Jewish Voice New York: "Chera Family's Crown Acquisitions Buys 650 Madison for $1.3 Billion" By Boruch Shubert
June 5, 2013 In 2010, he began the restoration of The Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan. In 2012, Chera purchased 49.9% interest in a four-building Fifth Avenue portfolio that included the

Olympic Tower Olympic Tower is a 51-story, building at 641 and 645 Fifth Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the mixed-use development contains cond ...

for $1 billion from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. In June 2013, Chera purchased 650 Madison Avenue for $1.3 billion in partnership with Highgate Holdings from the Carlyle Group. He was an investor in the

One World Trade Center One World Trade Center, also known as One WTC and as the Freedom Tower, is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Tr ...

and accumulated significant property in

Red Hook, Brooklyn Red Hook is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City, United States, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Ca ...

. Crown was also a prominent investor (along with Albert Laboz, Joseph Jemal, and Eli Gindi) in the

Fulton Mall Fulton Street is a long east–west street in northern Brooklyn, New York City. This street begins at the intersection of Adams Street and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights, and runs eastward to East New York and Cypress Hills. At the bo ...

in Brooklyn. Chera had a conservative investment strategy borrowing no more than 25–35% of the purchase price given that they were long term holders in assets. In 2009, Crown held real estate in New York City.

Personal life

Chera and his wife Frieda, nicknamed "Cookie", had three sons: Isaac "Ike", Haim, and Richard, all active in the family business. Chera was a leader in the Brooklyn

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

community. Chera was an associate and friend of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, and donated to the

Trump Victory Committee The Trump Victory Committee was a joint fundraising committee for Donald J. Trump for President (the Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016, Donald Trump presidential campaign organization), the Republican National Committee (RNC), and 11 sta ...

Death

Chera was hospitalized for an unknown illness in March 2020 and later tested positive for

. Prior to his hospitalization, he had relocated to his home in

Deal, New Jersey Deal is a borough situated on the Jersey Shore within Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The community was settled by Europeans in the mid-1660s and named after an English carpenter from Deal, Kent. As of the 2020 United State ...

. Chera entered a coma the following week and died on April 11, 2020. His wife also contracted the virus, but recovered.

, in a May 2020

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

interview, described Chera's death as having a high impact on his thinking: When Trump contracted COVID-19 himself, he was reported to have asked if he was "going out like Stan Chera".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chera, Stanley 1942 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Sephardic Jews 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Sephardic Jews American company founders American investors American people of Syrian-Jewish descent Syrian Jews American people of Syrian descent Syrian billionaires Syrian businesspeople American businesspeople in real estate American retail chief executives Businesspeople from Brooklyn Businesspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) People from Deal, New Jersey