Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 9th, 2012

Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani — prime minister of the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation of Qatar — was rejected in his $31.5 million attempts to buy a pair of 907 Fifth Avenue apartments once owned by the recently deceased eccentric heiress Huguette Clark. Although boards have no obligation to reveal the reasons for their decision, rumor has it that the building shuddered at the thought of the Sheik’s diplomatic immunity, the many children he planned on housing there, not to mention the costly and time-consuming mammoth combination renovation required. The Sheik should not feel badly: board rejections are something all are used to in the crazy New York real estate market…..it has happened to even the whitest wasps!

Do buildings of this ilk prefer creepy doll collections over kid collections? Does Copper trump oil? Maybe Sheik is simply not chic enough for Fifth Avenue……