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Leona Helmsley will be released from jail this week just as the New York Palace Hotel, the jewel of the Helmsley empire, is about to be sold out from under her.
The court appointed receiver for the hotel, W. Thomas Parrington Jr., has signed a contract to sell the 1,050-room Palace for $202 million to Amedeo Hotels, an offshore partnership. That contract is scheduled to be presented to a court-appointed arbitration panel on Wednesday.
Harry Helmsley and Mrs. Helmsley, who moves to a half-way house this week, have been desperately trying to block the sale of what used to be the Helmsley Palace. But legal experts believe that they are likely to fail.
The receiver wrenched control of the hotel away from the Helmsleys and began looking for buyers last year as part of a court-ordered settlement of a dispute between the Helmsleys and limited partners in the Palace. The limited partners demanded a receiver, using much the same evidence that resulted in Mrs. Helmsley's conviction on income tax evasion. They charged that the Helmsleys diverted funds from the hotel for their own use.
Representatives of Mr. Parrington, the Helmsleys and the limited partners all declined comment late last week. But sources involved in the transaction confirmed that the $202 million sale is imminent.
The price for the Palace is higher than many expected in the depressed real estate market. The hotel...