Monday, October 22, 2012

Steven Gottlieb Gives it Another Go

SELLER: Steven Gottlieb
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $35,000,000
SIZE: (approx.) 5,000 square feet

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Your Mama thought it might be a nice change of pace to start the week off with a little New York City fabulosity in the form of a unfinished duplex penthouse set high atop a particularly stunning and iconic park-fronting Art Deco building on the Upper West Side that's popped up the open market with a knee-knocking $35,000,000 price tag.




As was recounted in a deliciously detailed article in New York magazine in 2005, again in 2008 in the New York Observer and, finally, a couple days ago in The New York Times, the two-unit combination cooperative penthouse has a rather illustrious chain of ownership that goes back to the 1970s when two-time Tony award winning Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage au Folles) paid $160,000 for the sun-splashed 19th and 20th floor duplex.

Mister Herman, who reportedly tore down some walls and mirrored others, occupied the terraced aerie until fashion tycoon Calvin Klein came for a visit in 1983 and, on the spot, offered Mister Herman a million bucks for the penthouse.

Not long after Mister Klein moved in he got into a kerfuffle with building's board after he illegally installed a hot tub on the rooftop terrace. We're not sure if the hot tub brouhaha had anything to do with Mister Klein's desire to dump the penthouse but in 1989 he agreed to sell to movie producer and Planet Hollywood co-founder Keith Barish for $3,900,000. Alas, Mister Barish caught a case of The Real Estate Fickle, backed out of the purchase and, as a result, lost his $390,000 deposit.

Mister Klein quickly shifted real estate gears and sold the penthouse for $4.3 million to music and media mogul David Geffen, a well-known trophy property collector who—the children surely recall—recently dropped $54,000,000 on socialite songwriter Denise Rich's woefully dated 12,000-ish square foot duplex penthouse across the park on Fifth Avenue. Anyhoo, Mister Geffen clearly caught a case of The Real Estate Fickle too because he never moved in and flipped the penthouse a little over a year later for $4,600,000 to—are you ready for this?—Keith Barish who—so the story goes—used a Jasper Johns painting as partial payment.

Like Mister Geffen, Mister Barish never moved in to the penthouse but did quickly cough up another two (or so) million bucks for an adjacent 19th floor apartment owned by four-time Oscar-nominated actress Marsha Mason (Only When I Laugh, The Goodbye Girl). When his planned combination and renovation become more cumbersome than he could stomach he sold both the still-uncombined units in 1993 or '94 for $6,000,000 to—buckle your real estate safety belts—Calvin Klein. Such are the wacky real estate ways of the rich and famous, right?

The second time around, Mister Klein didn't move in to the penthouse but did once again run afoul of the board when he removed all non-structural walls in anticipation of a major overhaul. Again we're not sure if his battles with the board had anything to do with his decision to unload the penthouse a second time but in 1998 Oscar-winning movie maker Mike Nichols and his Peabody Award-winning Broadcast journalist wife Diane Sawyer agreed to to pay Mister Klein $7.5 million for the now combined but gutted penthouse.

When Mister Nichols and Miz Sawyer realized their sales contract omitted ownership of the sprawling second floor terrace they queried the board who—dontcha know?—told them they would need to cough up another million dollars to buy the outdoor space. They agreed to the board's monetary demands but, before they knew it, were were outbid by the penthouse's current owner, music industry bigwig turned social networking entrepreneur Steven Gottlieb who already owned an18th floor apartment in the building and who scooped up the unfinished penthouse in 1999 for $8,600,000.

Like the penthouse's previous owners, Mister Gottlieb planned an extensive and expensive renovation but, after a dozen years planning—and no doubt millions in various upgrades and improvements—has chosen to sell.

As it turns out, this isn't the first time at the real estate rodeo for Mister Gottlieb who very briefly had the duplex penthouse on the market in February 2008 with a $36,000,000 price tag. The Street Easy website shows the penthouse was re-listed (at an undisclosed price) and put into contract in June of 2008 but, for reason to which we're not privy, the sale was never completed.

At the time Mister Gottlieb first and unsuccessfully attempted to sell the cooperative penthouse it carried with it monthly maintenance fees of $10,691. Current listing information shows the monthlies have increased to $11,632.

Current listing information includes a floor plan that depicts a proposed built-out that would transform the approximately 5,000 square foot unfinished space into a lavish and lofty park side perch with three bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, three fireplaces, a capacious 1000-square foot living/dining room, a slender wrap around terrace on the lower floor and, on the upper level, a double-height library and a contiguous glass-walled pavilion and glass-roofed conservatory that both open to an approximately 1,000 square foot wrap around terrace with heart stopping park and city views.

Given that New York City is flooded with buyers willing to pay almost any price for prime residential real estate now may be the perfect time for Mister Gottlieb to finally unload the penthouse. Given the plethora of deep-pocket buyers willing to spend vast and shocking sums of money on prime residential properties in Manhattan do any of the children think this place just might go for more than the asking price?

exterior photo: Kate Leonova for Property Shark
interior renderings and floor plan: Brown Harris Stevens

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post with layers of info Mama. First, the Sawyer/Nichols item about having to pay 1M to buy the terrace is down right fascinating! They really didnt know the space was not included? With lawyers and agents involved? Second, it IS hard to hide a hot tub being installed that high in the sky, I would imagine. The Geffen/Rich purchase still baffles me. He seems so shrewd..I believe there is more in the deal than artwork (as one of the children suggested)...

WrteStufLA said...

I have for so long lusted after this space. Talk about floor plan porn -- every time it reappears, I'm soon in dire need of a cigarette and wet wipe!

Anonymous said...

Good Lawd! That poor apartment has gone through so much!! Bless its $35 millon heart!
Anyway, the apartment does look gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

omg, that view!!!!!! i love the modern interior too!

Anonymous said...

Love how all you mean people hated on Adrienne Maloof's FABULOUS Beverly Park mansion and in less than a month it's already SOLD. That's right children. Sold. Sold. SOLD. S-O-L-D!

Suck on that! Miz Maloof is laughing all the way to the bank! (or divorce court)

Anonymous said...

Under contract and sold are two very different things anon 1:12.

Anonymous said...

Bitch please. It's sold, they already got their money, it just hasn't been officially recorded yet.

Anonymous said...

U mad bro?

Anonymous said...

Why so testy, people? It's just an apartment.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, just a house.

Anonymous said...

Holy Shiz children mind your manners around the glamourous Puss Mama! Dayum wonderful apartment... got all excited.... then I thought of the Maloof House and need a nap I got so dizzy thinking about the gold up in her hair and painted on her banisters and posts in the manor of Klass.

Anonymous said...

Love this !!

Anonymous said...

i'd take it. and love it. fab

Petra's said...

Unfortunately, 1:30 appears to be right. Redfin has Klassy Manor in the final stage of escrow.

But children, pop a Xanax and calm down before Mama whoops you senseless with the wooden spoon.

Love this fab apartment and thank you Mama for the thorough rundown of previous owners. I don't think $35 mill is a stretch.

Don Juan's Wreckless Daughter said...

Did any of the previous owners ever actually live in this lovely pad?

... Or did everyone just screw with the place and sell it back and fourth into oblivion?

Anonymous said...

This apartment is a vortex of classic cases of The Celebrity Real Estate Fickle!!

Anonymous said...

The fact that the Maloof house has (presumably) sold should be taken as nothing more than further proof that having gobs of money certainly does not equate having even a modicum of taste or class...

Anonymous said...

That Maloof shack looks tacky enuf for the unclassy tastes of a Kar-cash-it-in and her always miserable looking beau Ms.Kanye West.
Throw in a few animal print rugs and some leather upholstery and them two love birds have a place to bump her married uglies to later sell online.

Anonymous said...

I'm not entirely surprised that tacky shack sold..it got almost as much exposure as Kim Kar-cash-itin has stretchmarks..
And just like Kimmy ,it shows people will throw down cash on anything if it's wide enuf..tacky enuf and even if it seems no one seems to walk away happy from her..I mean it.

Anonymous said...

Bear in mind that out there is full of other tacky people who think the Maloof's house is in good taste. Candy Spelling's sold too and that is a horrible pile. Finally you have no idea what it sold for, maybe they took a huge price cut.

Anonymous said...

I heard from owners of a neighboring property that the new Maloof owners architect has gut renovation plans in hand for the house.

Anonymous said...

I cant wait to see the follow up on Maloof. If I was Lisa Vanderpump, I would be a tad upset for what she got for her house, assuming Maloof sold close to asking. Hunky Mauricio made a nice payday on that one!

Anonymous said...

I love how you all dream up such bullshit.

A.) The Maloof house is PENDING on Redfin, which in no way indicates how close it is or isn't to closing. I have seen many properties pending for months.

B.) You have no idea what it sold for despite the delusions in your head that you know someones brothers sisters cousins mom who knows the realtors uncles aunts third cousin.

C.) The house is tacky--- much of the tack is in the furnishings though. I gaurantee it sells for a number begining with a 1 and probably lower the Lisa's, lest we not forgot the list price on her pad was $29m when it sold for $18.8m. And yes, I'm sure like the Vanderpump place this place will get a massive overhaul, however if a fire starts in this one, I'd be fine with it burning to the ground.

Lucy said...

seems like the guy above me is a little bit angry.

i think this house has the potential to be magnificent. not worth what is quoted but still an incredible build.

Anonymous said...

Let me guess, the buyer is either Russian or Arab. Or Bruce Makowsky.

Anonymous said...

Yeah im betting that lisa is gonna be pissed if it sells in the 20's. Her Place was much nicer and mauricio convinced her that she would be crazy not to take the 19 million dollar offer. Im guessing it wont help that lisa is no longer friends with kyle and adrienne... just my 2cents.

Anonymous said...

If the Maloof house of horrors sells for anywhere near $26 mill prices in Beverly Park are gonna skyrocket even more. That place is actually one of the smaller mansions there.

Naughty Nancy said...

Hunky Mauricio's not looking for backup offers on the property. aka it's as good as sold.

Anonymous said...

TO Anonymous=October 23, 2012 3:07 PM

calm down; your erectile tissues and brain cells are getting Catabolized.

what month.. will your brain.. lose control of your autonomic nervous system and reality....
and leave you with liquids dripping out of all your holes

and the You of Today won't even realize what your holes are ejecting

or that you now have "caretakers"

Anonymous said...

TO Anon October 22, 2012 2:03 PM
same goes to you .

BillinMI said...

I remember reading an interview with Diane Sawyer several years ago - she and Mike Nichols already live below the lowest floor in Gottlieb's place and only were interested in moving upstairs because of the larger terraces....for their 2 dogs!! Gotta love that Diane, no? Seeing the terraces we now see why - stunning!

Anonymous said...

Sold for $19.5m.. $700k more than Lisa's house. Wow. The market is doing better than last year but I would much rather Lisa's house.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Beverly-Hills/54-Beverly-Park-Way-90210/home/6834060

Carla Ridge said...

There is no Dana; Only Zul. Surprised no one recognized this place.