Big Ticket: Upper East Side Penthouse for $37.94 Million
A three-apartment penthouse combination, spanning the top four floors of the Charles condominium at 1355 First Avenue, sold for $37.94 million and was the most expensive closed sale of the week, according to city records.
The price is the highest ever paid for a home on the Upper East Side east of Third Avenue, according to CityRealty, which tracks co-op and condo sales.
The common charges for PH1, an 11,740-square-foot quadruplex with 1,300 square feet of private terraces on two levels and views that extend north, south and from river to river, are $10,547 a month. Taxes are $4,048 a month, abated through 2020.
The buyer, who was shielded under a limited liability company, CRE Acquisition L.L.C., created the sprawling unit by combining the original duplex penthouse, priced at $16.5 million, with the two contiguous floors beneath, one priced at $10.81 million and the other at $10.63 million.
The three apartments, on floors 29 to 32, comprise a dozen bedrooms and 12 and a half bathrooms. But according to a publicist for the Charles, the buyer, who is American, is creating a custom configuration with 12-foot ceilings and a private elevator.
“It’s like having a townhouse, but with views and the services of an ultraluxury condominium,” said R. Ramin Kamfar, the chief executive of Bluerock Real Estate, which is developing the project with the Victor Group.
The buyers were represented by Beth Benalloul of the Corcoran Group, who declined to comment.
The Charles, a 27-unit glass-and-limestone condominium designed by Ismael Leyva, is on First Avenue between 72nd and 73rd streets, a neighborhood with more tenement-style walk-ups and postwar high-rises than ritzy townhouses and luxury condos.
“There was always a line of delineation,” said Ginger Brokaw, an associate broker with Town New Development, who is handling sales at the Charles with Jason Karadus, also of Town. “West of Third was considered better than anything east of Third.” But now, with the Second Avenue subway underway, she said, there has been “a shift in luxury commercial and residential real estate toward the East River.”
Units at the Charles have eat-in kitchens with Miele and Sub-Zero appliances, soundproofing components like under-floor padding, and master bedroom suites with dressing areas, walk-in closets and marble soaking tubs. Interior finishes, designed by David Collins Studio, include white oak and
Building amenities include a children’s lounge, private storage, a fitness center, a game room and 24-hour doormen and concierges. Five full-floor four-bedrooms are still for sale from $6.58 million to $9.88 million.
Copyright © 2015 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times.
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