Tory Burch is taking her fight from the runway to the courtroom, this time over the fate of her home.
The designer and several fellow residents at the Pierre Hotel have filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court to stop what they call a secretive and coercive $2 billion sale of the storied Fifth Avenue property that could evict them, Curbed reported.
The complaint accuses the co-op board of striking a term sheet in September with an unidentified LLC allegedly tied to the Khashoggi family, which would fold the building into the Brunei-owned Dorchester Collection.
Under that plan, residents would have to vacate their apartments or lose their share of proceeds, the suit claims. The residents say the board refused to disclose the buyer’s identity, financing capacity or exclusivity terms, and that it rejected a rival offer from longtime operator Taj Hotels that would have allowed residents to stay.
The Pierre’s shareholders want the board to open its books, alleging it violated fiduciary duties by pushing a deal they say it barely understood. The board has maintained that the term sheet is “nonbinding and subject to shareholder approval,” according to the filing.
The battle comes as the Pierre — whose gilded pedigree dates back nearly a century — struggles to regain its luster. Maintenance and service deteriorated, resulting in fraying carpets and spotty staffing.
Howard Lutnick, the then-Cantor Fitzgerald CEO who owns the co-op’s penthouse, allegedly helped steer the board toward hiring Newmark Group, the brokerage he ran, to advise on improving the property before pivoting to a sale.
Lutnick, who never lived in the penthouse he bought for $44 million in 2017, distanced himself from the controversy. A spokesperson for his government department previously said he hadn’t been involved in discussions and disclosed his conflicts before stepping away from his businesses when Trump tapped him for his Commerce Secretary post.
As for Burch and her neighbors, however, the betrayal is raw. The suit alleges the board aims to “ram a sale through by presenting it as a fait accompli to shareholders.”
— Holden Walter-Warner
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