Bette Midler and Julianne Moore shared the highest billing of property closings in New York City in July.
Ms. Midler and her husband Martin von Haselberg sold their long-standing home, a completely renovated triplex overlooking Central Park Reservoir on the Upper East Side, for $ 45 million, nearly two years after it was listed. The transaction was the most expensive for the city.
Ms. Moore's house sale took much longer. Her renovated West Village townhouse, which sold for $ 15 million and was one of the month's biggest purchases, had been on the market for more than a decade.
Both entertainers' deals were part of a busy month of closings, reflecting New York's continued strong recovery from the pandemic. In the second quarter alone, completed sales rose to the highest quarterly level in six years, according to the latest report from Douglas Elliman.
Runner-up for the month, at just under $ 32 million, was a four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bath unit located on the entire 86th floor of 157 West 57th Street, also known as One57, in Midtown. The anonymous buyer got a bargain: the original retail price in 2015 was $ 47.4 million.
Other notable closings in July included the purchase of one of the penthouses at 15 Hudson Yards, the glass skyscraper that opened as the first residential building on the mega-project. At $ 22 million, the four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom maisonette was the largest sale to date in the building, which is located on West 30th Street. The buyer used limited liability company Hudson Yards Penthouse 88A in the transaction.
In TriBeCa, Isabel Rose, a writer, performer, and part of the prominent Rose real estate family, sold her apartment while John Franco, a former Mets pitcher, and his wife Rose Franco bought a brand new apartment.
On the Upper East Side, Roger Hertog, the financier and conservative philanthropist, sold his cooperative. Gayfryd Steinberg, the wife of Saul Steinberg, a prominent corporate robber, sold her brownstone. Also: The estate of Eric Bentley, the theater critic and playwright who died last year at the age of 103, found a buyer for his apartment on the Upper West Side.
Triplex by Mrs. Midler, on the brick and limestone co-op building at 1125 Fifth Avenue and 94th Street, which sold for $ 45 million, was initially on the market for $ 50 million in September 2019. Ms. Midler had used the spacious apartment and Mr. von Haselberg had been at home. Mr. von Haselberg has been a performance artist since 1996 and raised her daughter Sophie there.
The penthouse, a combination of two units, has around 7,000 square meters plus a further 3,000 square meters of landscaped gardens that offer expansive views of the park and the Midtown skyline. There are four master bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms, plus a gym that could be converted into a fifth bedroom. The unit also has three wood-burning fireplaces and a library / music room upstairs.
The master bedroom suite contains a large dressing room; a small beauty salon; two steam baths; and the gym. One of the two bathrooms has a Japanese hinoki wood bathtub.
Ms. Midler, a singer and actress whose numerous awards include three Grammys and a Tony for her performance in "Hello Dolly!", Had called the apartment her "country house in the city". Bird watching was one of her favorite pastimes.
The apartment, which has been under contract since February, was purchased through the 1125 Residence Trust.
Mrs. Moore's town house at 335 West 11th Street, which sold for $ 15 million, first launched for nearly $ 12 million in 2009, six years after she bought it for $ 3.5 million when it was an apartment building. Together with her husband Bart Freundlich, author and director, she converted it into a single-family house for around 18 months with the help of her brother-in-law, the architect Oliver Freundlich.
The house has been on the market a few times over the years. It was sold in an apparently private deal to a buyer who used the limited liability company appropriately named 335 11th Street.
The five-story red brick Greek Revival building with a classic front staircase was built in 1839 between Washington Street and Greenwich Street. It is currently furnished with a primary suite on the third floor, two bedrooms on the fourth floor and a home office and a large family room on the top level. Mrs. Moore moved the kitchen from the garden level to the salon level above.
The home holds many memories for Mrs. Moore and Mr. Freundlich, who lived there with their two children Caleb and Liv. The couple married in the 12-meter-long back garden, according to a 2017 profile of the house in Architectural Digest.
Ms. Moore, who has appeared in numerous films, won an Oscar for best actress in the film "Still Alice".
In TriBeCa, Mrs. Rose sold it Apartment at 90 Franklin Street, Church Street, also known as the Franklin Tower condo for $ 10 million. She first launched it six years ago for $ 14 million.
The 5,027 square meter residential unit has five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, a spacious eat-in kitchen, a laundry room and a playroom. The master bedroom suite has an en-suite bathroom, dressing area and a separate den.
The entire loft-like house has mahogany floors, 3-meter-long beamed ceilings, and several oversized windows that offer a view of the city skyline. The buyers were listed as Scott and Rachel Yedid.
Ms. Rose, an heir to the real estate fortune of Rose Associates (the company builds and manages housing across town), has an extensive résumé that includes a cabaret performer, screenwriter, and novelist (she wrote "The J.A.P. Chronicles"). In 2017, she made headlines by posting an open letter about her transgender daughter after President Trump lifted federal protection for transgender students.
Several blocks away, at 111 Murray Street, a 64-story, 157-unit glass skyscraper, the Francos paid nearly $ 7.5 million for a 2,934-square-foot sponsored three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom apartment. Mr. Franco, who previously owned a property on Staten Island, was an assistant steward from 1984 to 2005, most of the time with the Mets. He was also a four-time all-star player.
Mr. Hertog received $ 15.5 million for his 13th floor cooperative at 1040 Fifth Avenue, a 17-story limestone building between 85th and 86th streets designed by noted architect Rosario Candela. The apartment building has been home to many prominent residents over the years, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The apartment has four master bedrooms and five bathrooms as well as staff accommodation in addition to the spacious eat-in kitchen and a laundry room. And there are wood-burning fireplaces in the living room and in the library.
Mr. Hertog, a financier and philanthropist, was also a founding partner of the investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. The buyer used limited liability company 1040513A in the sale.
Even on the Upper East Side Ms. Steinberg sold her brownstone at 46 73rd Street, near Central Park between Madison and Park Avenues, for $ 11.6 million. The buyer was listed as Rosy Path, LLC.
Twenty feet wide and five stories high, the house spans 8,310 square feet with a 20 by 20 foot back garden. There are five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms as well as a converted basement with additional sleeping area, laundry room, fitness room and wine storage room. The master suite, which takes up the entire third floor, has two bathrooms and a dressing room.
Ms. Steinberg, who bought the brownstone in 2002 for $ 5.3 million, had it back on the market nearly two years ago for $ 18.8 million. She was married to Mr. Steinberg, the financier, from 1983 until his death in 2012.
Mr. Bentley's estate sold his apartment at 194 Riverside Drive for $ 4.4 million almost a year after his death. The sprawling cooperative that is a little T.L.C. is one of the last remaining units in the pre-war building with the original layout. It contains five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Mr. Bentley wore many hats in his more than a hundred years of life: he was a theater critic, playwright, director, singer and author.
The buyers were David E. Pozen and Jessica Ulman-Pozen.
And at the end of the month Recorded Closures: Real estate developer Ryan Jackson and his wife, Kay Jackson, a stylist, bought a brand new penthouse at 30 Park Place for $ 18.4 million. Anne Marie Aberbach's estate sold her cooperative at 812 Park Avenue for $ 5.3 million; she was the wife of Julian J. Aberbach, who owned the publishing rights to Elvis Presley's music.
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