Real-estate rejections of the rich and famous

Ronald Perelman

With a net worth of $12 billion, Ron Perelman is the 26^th-richest American, but his fortune didn't guarantee the Revlon tycoon a place to live at 820 Fifth Ave. The same co-op board rejected Steve Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, and a $31 million bid in 2009 from developer Jeff Blau, president of Related Companies. Tommy Hilfiger made it past the board; he owned the apartment Perelman had his eye on, but never lived there. The buyer who eventually was approved was Kenneth Griffin, chief executive of Citadel Investment Group. Perelman has also been rejected from two other co-ops: 4 E. 66th St. and 834 Fifth Ave., the New York Observer reports.

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Calvin Klein

The dual-towered San Remo on Central Park West "has a reputation for lenient admissions standards" compared with the older-money co-ops to the East, according to "The Sky's the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan" by Steven Gaines. But famed fashion designer Calvin Klein did not make the cut. The co-op did, however, admit his fellow fashionista Donna Karan, according to the New York Observer.

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Madonna

She's one of the most powerful women in music, but the San Remo turned down Madonna’s co-op application, despite having housed other glamorous and sometimes controversial entertainers such as Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Hedy Lamarr.

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Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith

Three blocks south of the San Remo on Central Park West is the Dakota, best known as John Lennon's last home and the site of his murder. But it's also famous for being home to numerous other entertainers and high-profile figures — and for rejecting some of them. Among the rejections are Hollywood couple Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Cher, Billy Joel, Carly Simon and Alex Rodriguez. More recently, the Dakota board has declined director Judd Apatow and actress Tea Leoni.

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Rush Limbaugh

Talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh was one of several bidders turned down to buy an apartment at 322 E. 57th St., owned by Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford, according to an article in New York magazine. Also denied were entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman and David Feld, founder of Today's Man.

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Mariah Carey

When Barbra Streisand's triplex penthouse at The Ardsley on Central Park West went up for sale in 1999, fellow diva Mariah Carey put in a bid to buy it for $8 million. The co-op board sang a different tune. Carey instead bought a new condo downtown, according to the Observer.

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Barbra Streisand

That brings us to Babs herself. In the entertainment business a lot longer than Carey, she has a longer list of co-op board rebuffs. The co-op at 740 Park Ave. (pictured here), built by Jackie Kennedy Onassis' grandfather James T. Lee, and the future first lady’s onetime home, turned Streisand down, according to the Observer. She's in good company: Elizabeth Taylor also was rejected, along with Neil Sedaka and Barbara Walters.

According to an article in New York magazine a year after a pair of 1969 co-op rejections, Streisand was rejected by 1021 Park Ave. due to being "a flamboyant type" and by 1107 Fifth Ave. because she was likely to set up a recording studio.

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Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani

Earlier this year, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, who is also the owner of Harrods, was turned down in an attempt to buy two apartments on Fifth Avenue belonging to the reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, who died last year, according to the New York Post. According to CNBC.com, Al-Thani would be a challenging tenant because he has diplomatic immunity, and enforcing payment if he had any financial troubles would be difficult.

He later was reported as a possible buyer of a nearly $100 million duplex penthouse at One57, the luxury apartment building and site of the crane left dangling by superstorm Sandy, and he eventually settled for a $47 million townhouse on the Upper East Side.

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Richard Nixon

The building at 19 E. 72nd St. is considered one of the most difficult buildings not on Park or Fifth avenues to get into, according to an article in the New York Observer, which quotes one anonymous top broker's insight: "You wouldn't bring in a rap singer into 19 E. 72nd Street — just as you wouldn't take 19 E. 72nd into some rap building. They're divergent cultures."

Richard Nixon appears to fall more into the "19 E. 72nd Street" category than a rapper. But in 1979 when he was looking to buy, the former president came with an entourage, not to mention notoriety after the Watergate scandal. The board initially approved him, then retracted approval when shareholders revolted, according to The New York Times.

After more house-hunting travails in New York City, the Nixons bought a home in Saddle River, N.J.

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