Businessman Norton Cher is looking to sell his Upper West Side apartment for almost $6 million and using his proximity as a fashion executive to Jay-Z and Beyoncé as a marketing point. The Rocawear CEO Cher also is offering an option to rent the property before it is sold to the highest bidder.
Cher, who also is known as Naum Chernyavsky, has enlisted brokers Alexander Zakharin and Yana Aleksyeyenko, of Nest Seekers International to hock the coveted real estate. And they have tapped into a selling point that they believe will help them get prime offers: The Carters.
The brokers said in an interview with the New York Post, “This apartment isn’t just a residence, it’s a piece of pop culture history as Norton’s home base during a significant era in fashion and music history,” adding that 3,000 square feet apartment has three-bedroom, three-bath and a home office.
Situated on the 24th floor of a 48-story building, this apartment located at 220 Riverside Blvd. boasts timeless features including hardwood floors, custom cabinets, blackout blinds, and surround sound. The primary bedroom corner suite showcases floor-to-ceiling windows, a custom home office behind a sliding door, a spa-like bath, two walk-in closets, and an extra wall of closets.
Opening to a foyer, when one walks it they will see a great room with expansive picture windows offering stunning views of the Hudson River and the city skyline.
Boasting an expansive living and dining space, Cher’s apartment is complete with a well-equipped bar and ample lounging area. The chef’s kitchen occupies one wing, while the opposite wing accommodates bedrooms and a home office.
He is selling it for $5.99 million or allowing it to be rented for $ 19,990 a month.
Where Bey and Jay Used to Hang
According to the New York Post, Jay-Z and Beyoncé frequented the apartment while forming plans for the brand that was started in 1999 by Damon Dash and the billionaire businessman. The Rocawear brand was sold in 2007 to a company called Iconix Brand Group for $204 million.
One might wonder why Cher would mention his famous collaborators.
The answer might be The Beyoncé Effect, which has been described as “a benign kind of sorcery,” by Allure magazine.
“Scientists can try to measure, philosophers to explain, but only poets can understand the magic of Beyoncé’s influence on music, dance, fashion, beauty—and pretty much everything else. It’s a benign kind of sorcery, and the entire world is drunk in love,” the writer explains before breaking down how the association with the former Destiny’s Child singer can create instant appeal to consumers.
Jay-Z, who went from being a drug dealer to a rapper to a boardroom executive whose estimated net worth is $2.5 billion and has often noted that he has created two other billionaires under his wing, acknowledges he too has a galactic sphere of influence — which was inspired by watching Russell Simmons.
“The whole vibe of start-up companies in Silicon Valley with twenty-five-year-old CEOs wearing shelltoes is Russell’s Def Jam style filtered through different industries. The business ideal for a whole generation went from growing up and wearing a suit every day to never growing up and wearing sneakers to the boardroom,” he wrote in his book “Decoded.”
Adding, “Even as a teenager, I understood what Russell was on to. He’d discovered a way to work in the legit world but to live the dream of the hustler: independence, wealth, and success outside of the mainstream’s rules.”
Consider the popular question going around: Would you rather have a lunch with Jay-Z or $500,000? Even journalist Gayle King would opt to sit in his presence to glean success.
Over the last three decades, individuals have recognized the persona of the “Blueprint” recording artist as his own intellectual property (IP). He then uses that (for him and his wife) as a marketing strategy to persuade individuals from similar backgrounds that they can experience a life of luxury or have access to it.
This alliance with this level of cool, confidence, and cachet might be what Cher and his brokers are banking will help them unload the property with ease.
