Estée Lauder Chairman Buys $23.5 Million Co-op

Featuring Cathy Franklin’s sale at 998 Fifth Avenue:

 

The imposing limestone apartment house at 998 Fifth Avenue has been home to some of the world’s most recognizable names since its opening in 1912 — from luminaries of the Gilded Age, like the Guggenheims and Vanderbilts, to modern-day billionaires, like the Ukrainian-born businessman Leonard Blavatnik.

Last month, one more distinguished denizen joined the ranks of this exclusive, landmark co-op building, at the corner of East 81st Street, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park.

William P. Lauder, the executive chairman of the Estée Lauder Companies and a grandson of the founders of this beauty products giant, closed on a palatial, 14-room apartment on the sixth floor. The sale price was $23.5 million, with $17,500 in monthly maintenance, making it one of the most expensive transactions in September, according to city property records.

The priciest closed sale, however, was near the south end of the park, at 432 Park Avenue, the super tall luxury skyscraper in the heart of the city’s Billionaires’ Row, between East 56th and 57th Streets. Property records show that unit No. 65A was sold back to the sponsor — the concrete-and-glass tower was developed by Macklowe Properties and the CIM Group — for $27,889,868. The sale price was just slightly more than the $27.04 million the seller, identified as 432 Holdings LLC, had paid for it in July 2016.

This 4,019-square-foot aerie, which is 822 feet up the 96-story, 1,396-foot-tall building, has three bedrooms and four and a half baths. Its monthly carrying costs are $16,126.

There were other noteworthy sales last month. The shoe designer Steve Madden closed on a condominium at a new Midtown East development. The actress Amy Irving sold her Central Park West co-op; and Izvor Zivkovic, a longtime manager of Kanye West, purchased a loft on (yes!) West Street in TriBeCa.

Also, Howard Marks, a founder of the investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, and his wife, Nancy, finally sold their full-floor apartment at the Ritz-Carlton, at 50 Central Park South, for $25 million, half of what they had initially hoped to get for it.

MR. LAUDER’S NEW RESIDENCE at 998 Fifth, unit No. 6W, was first listed in November for $29 million and was reduced in January to $27 million. It has five main bedrooms and six baths, along with sweeping views of the museum.

Mr. Lauder acquired the unit from the estate of Ronald P. Stanton, a refugee from Nazi Germany who made a fortune in petrochemicals through his company, Trammo. Mr. Stanton, a noted philanthropist who died last year, had bought the apartment from Archibald Cox Jr., the son of the Watergate prosecutor.

The apartment was extensively renovated, though many original architectural flourishes remain. There are decorative wood paneling and moldings, wood-burning fireplaces, as well as hardwood floors, oversize windows and soaring ceilings throughout.

 

The home has a long windowed gallery that leads to the entertaining space, which also includes a huge oval library, on the northern end. The bedrooms face south on 81st Street, and include a master suite, which has two marble baths, a sitting room converted from a bedroom with a walk-in closet, and additional closets. There are also staff rooms off the windowed kitchen.

Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s International Realty was the listing broker, while Cathy Franklin of the Corcoran Group represented Mr. Lauder.

The 12-story Italian Renaissance-style building at 998 Fifth — converted from a rental to co-op in 1953, and designated a landmark in 1974 — was designed by McKim, Mead and White. It was developed by James T. Lee, the maternal grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the former first lady.

SEVERAL BLOCKS AWAY, at 252 East 57th Street, a new 65-story glass condominium near Second Avenue, Mr. Madden bought a spacious apartment with oversize windows that provide views of Central Park and the East River.

Mr. Madden, the founder of the publicly traded footwear company bearing his name, paid $12.43 million for No. 61A, a 4,624-square-foot apartment with five bedrooms and six and a half baths. The unit also has a library, an eat-in kitchen and a large living/dining room space with a fireplace and balcony.

AT 50 CENTRAL PARK WEST, Ms. Irving, who starred in “Carrie” and other movies, sold her 3,200-square-foot apartment, unit No. 8CD. It has six bedrooms, four full baths and a large eat-in kitchen with a pantry. The sale price was $7.54 million, a sizable drop from the original list price of $11.5 million in 2015. Ms. Irving had bought the co-op apartment in 2005 for $6.9 million.

Mr. Zivkovic, who is known in the music industry as Izzy, paid $4.76 million for his apartment: a 2,317-square-foot, loft-like residence at 250 West Street, between Laight and Hubert Streets with views of the Hudson River. The apartment, No. 4B, has two bedrooms and two and a half baths, as well as a den/office.

MR. AND MRS. MARKS sold their apartment on the 33rd floor above the Ritz-Carlton for $25 million. The couple had put their home on the market in May 2015 for $50 million, though its most recent asking price had dropped considerably, to $27.5 million. The monthly carrying charges total $13,684.

This sprawling apartment, at around 4,600 square feet, offers panoramic Central Park and skyline views, as well as a variety of services from the Ritz-Carlton, according to the listing with the Corcoran Group. The buyer’s identity was shielded by a limited liability company.

 

Copyright © 2017 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. Richard Perry/The New York Times.

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