Real estate queen Leona Helmsley has sold her interest in Investment Properties Associates, a cornerstone of her late husband Harry's real estate empire.

Helmsley said IPA was sold for more than $100 million to a group led by Scoggin Capital Management, L.P., Belvedere Capital, and Angelo Gordon & Co.

IPA was founded by Harry B. Helmsley and his partner Irving Schneider 29 years ago. Helmsley died in January 1997.

IPA owns 4 million square feet of commercial space in New York City and Chicago.

The names of buildings affected in the IPA sale were not immediately available on Wednesday.

Last September, Mrs. Helmsley handed over control of Helmsley-Spear Inc. to two of her late husband's business partners.

That move allowed her to begin selling Harry Helmsley's $5 billion empire because it ended a lawsuit holding up the dynasty's disposition.

Eastdil Realty Co. LLC, which handled the IPA deal, was hired last June to evaluate and sell the Helmsley properties.

A year ago, Mrs. Helmsley's spokesman Howard Rubenstein said: "This is just too vast a real estate empire for her to handle.''

Published: June 17, 1998

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