Barbara Walters’ longtime Upper East Side apartment, last listed for $17.75 million, has found a buyer, less than a year after the beloved journalist’s passing. Located at 944 Fifth Avenue, the home received a $2 million price cut from its initial asking price of $19.75 million in April. Walters lived in the five-bedroom, five-bathroom pre-war apartment for 30 years until her death last December at the age of 93.

The apartment’s price was lowered to $17.8 million in September, and last week entered contract with an unknown buyer at an unconfirmed price, according to the Olshan Luxury Market Report, as Crain’s reported.

Entrance to the grand abode is through a private elevator landing and a spacious entry gallery. The living room boasts 10-foot ceilings, views of the park, and a wood-burning fireplace. The sprawling main room can easily host large groups of friends, family, and guests.

All of the apartment’s rooms, including its living room, dining room, and wood-paneled library, are connected by large transition areas, making it the ideal space for entertaining guests while also allowing for comfortable day-to-day living.

The home’s wood-paneled primary bedroom suite also has views of Central Park and another wood-burning fireplace. The luxurious suite also includes two baths.

Located down the bedroom hallway are two additional large bedrooms, one of which is currently configured as a den. All of the bedrooms have en-suite baths, and the unit also features two staff rooms, each a bathroom.

Other highlights of the home include an expansive eat-in kitchen with a butler’s pantry and an adjacent laundry room.

The home was listed as Walters left it, which included all of her belongings. On November 6, Bonhams auctioned her jewelry, furniture, clothing, and comprehensive collection of American art. Highlights of the collection included pieces from some of the most prominent artists of the Gilded Age, including John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam, according to Bonhams.

When Walters moved into the apartment in the late 1980s, she enlisted the help of interior designer Mario Buatta to fill it with fine art, antique furniture, and souvenirs from her international travels. Over time, the apartment saw new additions in the form of gifts from friends, including items from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, according to Curbed.

The apartment’s decor became a reflection of Walters’ trailblazing career in media and a space that frequently hosted 30-person dinners including some of the most famous in politics, fashion, art, and media.

Much of Walters’ household possessions were auctioned off as well. She was known for owning items that reminded her of key moments in her life, like a painting above her bed that depicted a scene of Boston Swan Boats.

Constructed in 1925, 944 Fifth Avenue is a 14-story pet-friendly limestone building with only one apartment per floor. The co-op building offers residents private storage, a gym, and a door attendant.

[Listing details: 944 Fifth Avenue Fl. 6 at CityRealty]

[At Compass by Alexa Lambert]

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• Barbara Walters’ longtime Upper East Side apartment lists for $19.75M
• Famed photographer William Wegman just listed his Chelsea townhouse/studio for $16.5M
• Annie Leibovitz lists her Central Park West home for $8.6M

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One of New York City’s most famous office buildings is going residential. Developer Brodsky Organization has bought a stake in the Flatiron Building and plans to work with the current owners to turn the landmark into a luxury condominium, as The Real Deal first reported.

The iconic triangle-shaped building was put up for auction this spring to end a dispute among the previous owners, which included GFP Real Estate, Newmark, Sorgente Group, ABS Real Estate Partners, and Nathan Silverstein. As 6sqft previously reported, in 2021 the four partners sued Silverstein in search of a partition sale, claiming Silverstein made poor business decisions after the building’s only tenant, Macmillan Publishers, moved out in 2019.

In March, the property sold for $190 million to Jacob Garlick of Abraham Trust, who failed to pay the required down payment of $19 million by the deadline. Following a second auction in May, Jeff Gural of GFP Real Estate placed the winning bid of $161 million.

The Brodsky Organization, which manages several rental buildings across New York City, will lead the conversion. Dean Amro, a principal at Brodsky, told the New York Times the project reflected “our confidence in New York coming back even stronger than before.”

Details on the number of residences and the layouts have not been determined yet; the owners told the Times there could be about 40 total apartments with some floors home to multiple units. The ground floor will remain retail space.

The conversion could take three years, according to the developers.

With the shift from full-time office to more remote work following the pandemic, several building owners are working to convert empty offices into apartments, like major projects at One Wall Street and 55 Broad Street in the Financial District.

Mayor Eric Adams is pushing for zoning changes that would allow for quicker office-to-residential conversions. The mayor said these changes would allow office buildings constructed before 1990 to convert to housing; currently, the cut-off is 1961 or 1977, depending on the neighborhood. This could free up 136 million square feet of office space across the city to become apartments.

His office estimates converting underused offices could create 20,000 homes for 40,000 New Yorkers over the next decade.

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• Flatiron Building sells for $161M at second auction in two months
• Flatiron Building future uncertain as buyer fails to pay deposit

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Real estate employees are in the office more often than any other office workers in Manhattan, according to the results of a new survey. The Partnership for New York City found that 75 percent of workers in the real estate industry are in their Manhattan workplace daily, compared to 58 percent of office workers in the borough across all fields. However, across the board, the survey found the extent of remote work far less than previously assumed with an estimate of 59 percent as the “new normal” for workers at their desks on an average weekday.

The Partnership surveyed more than 140 major Manhattan office employers between August 23 and September 15 to determine which employees are back in the office and which remain remote. According to the group’s findings, 58 percent of Manhattan office workers are in their workplace on an average weekday post-Labor Day. The share of office workers who are fully remote is just 6 percent, down from 10 percent in January.

Since the actual percentage of workers in the office was closer to 80 percent before the pandemic when considering vacations, business travel, and other off-site requirements, the Partnership believes the predicted 59 percent Manhattan office attendance is 72 percent of pre-pandemic levels, “so the actual drop off in office attendance since 2019 is much smaller than previously assumed,” the partnership said.

The real estate industry has the highest average daily attendance as of September at 75 percent, followed by financial services and law both at 65 percent. Below-average office attendance rates were reported for tech (53 percent), media (52 percent), and accounting (42 percent).

And hybrid schedules remain popular. Among those surveyed, 44 percent of Manhattan office workers are in the office three days per week, followed by 16 percent four days per week and two days per week. About 12 percent are in the office every day.

The increase in return-to-office rates, as well as schools reopening for the year, has resulted in an increase in subway ridership. Last week, the MTA reported the subway saw its highest post-pandemic single-day total for paid rides on consecutive days.

On Wednesday, September 20, the subway had 4,179,902 paid rides, surpassing the previous post-pandemic high of 4,144,828 set the day before on September 19. According to the agency, the milestone marks the fourth time in the last two weeks that subway ridership surpassed the 4 million mark.

“This is where we wanted to be, coming off the summer, seeing things move very much in the right direction,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said. “The MTA is firing on all cylinders, and more important, New Yorkers are getting back to their normal lives. This is a great sign for the region.”

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The highest residence in the world just got a lower price tag. The triplex penthouse at Central Park Tower was listed for $250 million last September, considered the most expensive home in the country if it found a buyer. But after a year on the market, the apartment is now asking $195 million, a price cut of $55 million, or 22 percent, as Bloomberg first reported. The discounted ask means the penthouse is no longer in the running for the priciest home sale in the United States.

The most expensive sale remains a $238 million apartment at 220 Central Park South, bought by hedge-fund founder and billionaire Ken Griffin in 2019.

Sitting 1,416 above New York City on Billionaires’ Row, the highest residence in the world spans across the tower’s 129th, 130th, and 131st floors. The seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom home includes two kitchens, two ballrooms, several living and entertainment spaces, a media room, a library, a study, and a separate service entrance.

The residence features more than 17,500 square feet of space and soaring ceiling heights of up to 27 feet. Other features of the unit include a spiral staircase, and the highest private terrace in the world that measures more than 1,433 square feet.

Ryan Serhant of SERHANT. holds the listing for the home and told the New York Post last year that the soaring penthouse is “above noise.”

“When you are on the terrace, you hear nothing — maybe an airplane, but that’s it. You are above sound. It’s so serene. It is magical. You are 1,400 feet in the air, stepping out onto your own terrace, surrounded by a huge glass wall. There has never been anything like it,” Serhant told the Post.

Another penthouse at Central Park Tower received a decent discount recently. Originally asking $175 million when it hit the market in March, the duplex on the 107th and 108th floors of the building is now listed for $149,500,000, a price cut of nearly 15 percent.

Developed by Extell and designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the Central Park Tower is located on West 57th Street and contains a seven-story Nordstrom flagship store, 179 luxury condo units, and the highest private amenities club in the world.

The building’s amenities suite, known as the Central Park Club, contains 50,000 square feet of luxury amenities situated across three floors.

The 100th floor features a grand ballroom with space for 120 seats, a private bar, and a restaurant run by Michelin-starred chefs. Located on the building’s 14th floor is a 60-foot outdoor swimming pool and private garden, while the 16th floor is dedicated to fitness and wellness, with an indoor saltwater pool, gym, sports courts, and more.

[Listing details: Central Park Tower at CityRealty]

[At SERHANT. by Ryan Serhant]

RELATED:

• Triplex penthouse at Central Park Tower asks record $250M
• A Central Park Tower penthouse asks $175M to live in the world’s tallest residential tower
• See inside Central Park Tower’s newly-unveiled 100th floor amenities club
• 1,300-foot-high duplex at Central Park Tower asks $150M

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A historic Fifth Avenue department store is now a modern office building. Amazon this week debuted its new digs at the former Lord & Taylor store in Midtown, which was built in 1914 and served as its flagship location for more than a century. After purchasing the building in March 2020 for nearly $1 billion, Amazon hired WRNS Studio to design the landmark as a 21st-century workplace that embraces its fashionable roots. Three years later, in the midst of Midtown’s recovery from the pandemic, the renovated building is now home to 2,000 employees.

In 2017, Lord & Taylor’s parent company, Hudson’s Bay Co., sold the 676,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance building to WeWork for $850 million. The deal closed in early 2019 and WeWork announced plans to turn the building into the company’s global headquarters. Amazon bought the building for $978 million in March 2020 and work began in 2022.

The building measures more than 600,000 square feet and will be home to 2,000 employees, about a fifth of Amazon’s New York-area workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to WRNS Studio, the design honors the history of the Lord & Taylor building as well as the memories New Yorkers made when shopping for a special outfit or taking in the annual holiday window displays. The building is named “Hank” after a unit of textile measurement for yarn.

“Every aspect of the project plays off the New York experience, from materials that echo the neighborhood’s iconic cast iron and steel structures to panoramic views showcasing the city’s enchanting rooftop water towers,” the project page reads. “The work of local artists celebrates the textile traditions, while artifacts from the former department store enliven new spaces throughout the building.”

Level 12 is dedicated to food and beverage options, including “Dot’s,” a cafe named after Dorothy Shaver, who was president of the department store in 1945. Inspired by the store’s original restaurant of the same name, the “Bird Cage” is a unique workspace clad in a textile artwork created by a local artist. A new spiral staircase connects Levels 11-13.

There is no shortage of outdoor space for employees, including a rooftop terrace and a sunken courtyard. The Empire State Building-facing terrace features a landscaped pathway, a dog run (Amazon offices are dog-friendly), and access to the refurbished courtyard.

A grand staircase reminiscent of city fire escapes connects every floor from the second level to the rooftop, with workplaces centered around it. There are several different setups for staff to work, meet, and socialize, from the sunny Solarium Lounge with an original sloping skylight to the Arch Lounge, which boasts the original entry archway.

The project preserved several historic details of the original building, including cast iron arches, glass windows, and terracotta ceilings. Other artifacts were repurposed, like wood panels from a Scottish castle now seen on a fireplace and brass lintels from old elevators that now are on a sculpture.

The project was developed by Seneca Group; the construction manager was StructureTone.

RELATED:

• Lord & Taylor is closing its 104-year-old Fifth Avenue flagship store
• Amazon considers leasing historic former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork
• Amazon will buy former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork for over $1B

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A $92 million condo at 432 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan has entered contract, the biggest deal of the year in New York City so far. The five-bedroom apartment on the skyscraper’s 79th floor first hit the market in September 2021 for $135 million but underwent a significant price cut this spring, according to CityRealty.

Mitch Julis of Canyon Capital Advisors is the seller, according to the Wall Street Journal. Japanese architect Hiroshi Sugimoto designed the apartment over the span of four years.

Measuring over 8,050 square feet, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom unit was designed by Sugimoto as a “temple of Zen,” with cedar shutters, Shikkui plaster walls, century-old Yakusugi cedar wood flooring, and a traditional Japanese tea room. The apartment also includes a den, a home office, two powder rooms, and unobstructed 360-degree views of Central Park, the Manhattan skyline, and beyond.

Included with the deal are built-in furniture and integrated art installations, as well as two adjacent studio apartments and two storage units.

Listing agent Noel Berk of Engel & Völkers did not identify the buyer or the exact contract price to the Journal.

Designed by the late Rafael Viñoly, the 96-story 432 Park Avenue tower rises 1,396 feet above Manhattan. The building has 30,000 square feet of amenities space, which includes a lounge, a private restaurant run by Michelin-starred chef Sean Hergatt, a 75-foot indoor swimming pool, a fitness center with a spa and sauna, a library, a billiards room, a screening room, a conference room, a children’s playroom, and a yoga studio.

The tower is located on Billionaires’ Row, an area located at the southern end of Central Park that is home to some of the world’s most expensive real estate. Last week, a penthouse at 220 Central Park South sold for $80 million, among the year’s most expensive real estate deals.

[Listing details: 432 Park Avenue, Unit 79 at CityRealty]

[At Engel & Völkers by Noel Berk]

RELATED:

• See inside the $169M penthouse at 432 Park Avenue
• $80M penthouse sale at 220 Central Park South is one of year’s biggest deals
• Once listed for $110M, Woolworth Building penthouse sells for $30M

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After closing during the pandemic, Manhattan’s famed Gramercy Park Hotel will reopen under new ownership, the Wall Street Journal reported. MCR Hotels, the nation’s third-largest hotel owner and operator, has purchased a 99-year lease to the hotel, located directly across from the exclusive Gramercy Park, for roughly $50 million and expects to reopen the property as one of the city’s most luxurious hotels in 2025 following renovations. Plans include upgrades to the lobby, the 197 guest rooms, the first-floor restaurant (Danny Meyer’s Maialino), and the 7,000-square-foot rooftop bar.

The property was foreclosed on in 2022 by Solil Management, who owns the land beneath the building, according to Tyler Morse, chief executive of MCR/MORSE Development.

Morse intends to transform the hotel into one of the city’s most luxurious hotels. Maialino, an esteemed Italian restaurant run by chef Danny Meyer that closed along with the hotel in 2020, will reopen on the first floor. The hotel’s 7,000-square-foot rooftop bar, the only venue with an aerial view of Gramercy Park, will be fully restored.

“We will return this beloved hotel to its original splendor as the jewel of Gramercy Park — one of the most magical and unique neighborhoods in Manhattan,” Morse said.

Constructed in 1924, the 18-story Gramercy Park Hotel is known for its luxurious rooms and reputation as a favorite among celebrities. New York Yankee stars Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle stayed at the hotel, as well as members of the Rolling Stones during their first American tour in 1964. John F. Kennedy and his family also lived in the hotel for a short period of time during the 1930s.

In 2003, the hotel was bought by real-estate developer Aby Rosen and hotelier and co-founder of Studio 54 Ian Schrager, who conducted a $200 million renovation with the help of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel.

Rosen eventually bought out Schrager’s share of the hotel but ran into financial trouble during the pandemic. After failing to make payments on the lease, Solil took over the property and sold most of what was inside. Only a few original items remain, including a vintage chandelier in the hotel’s lobby and the red and velvet curtains from the Rose and Jade bars, according to Morse.

MCR is also the owner of the New Yorker Hotel, the High Line Hotel, the Royalton New York, and John F. Kennedy International Airport’s TWA Hotel, which opened in 2019. The $265 million project restored the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center to its “Jet Age” glory, which when it was completed in 1962, was regarded for its revolutionary architecture.

Arlene Harrison, the president of the Gramercy Park Block Association, commended the reopening plan.

“We have been in ongoing dialogue for months with the Hotel’s new owner, Tyler Morse—the developer behind the iconic TWA and Highline Hotels,” Harrison said in an email to community members.

“His reverence for the history and legacy of the Gramercy Park Hotel is evident, as is his commitment to being a considerate neighbor and integrating the hotel seamlessly into the fabric of our community. This is a good day for Gramercy Park.”

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• Gramercy Park Hotel Hits the Market and Could Fetch $260M
• From Swamps to Swank: A Brief History of Gramercy Park Hotel and the Garden’s Highly Coveted Keys
• PHOTOS: The TWA Hotel at JFK is officially open!

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One of New York City’s best-selling condo buildings locked in one of the biggest deals of the year so far. An 8,000-square-foot duplex penthouse at 220 Central Park South on Billionaires’ Row is selling for roughly $80 million, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The seller is linked to investment firm Nima Capital, which paid around $65.6 million for the property in October 2020.

The buyer is listed as an LLC named 220CPSV8 according to public records, but their identity has not been revealed. The seller was represented in the deal by Adam Modlin of Modlin Group and Paige Nelson of Douglas Elliman, according to the Journal.

Designed by Robert A. M. Stern, limestone-clad 220 Central Park South includes a 70-story tower and an 18-story “villa” across from Central Park.

The property is a favorite of celebrities and billionaires. In August 2019, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler purchased a $66 million penthouse in the building. The 5,807-square-foot unit is located in the villa portion of the property and faces Central Park.

Billionaire Daniel Och, founder of hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management, in 2019 paid roughly $93 million for Penthouse 73, a four-bedroom, 9,800-square-foot unit in the building.

In January 2022, Och sold that penthouse to Brooklyn Nets co-owner Joe Tsai for $190 million, nearly double the amount he paid for it. At the time, the sale was the second most expensive real estate deal ever in New York City, with the number one spot remaining the $240 million penthouse purchased by Ken Griffin in 2019.

RELATED:

• Joe Tsai’s firm revealed as buyer of $190M penthouse at 220 Central Park South
• Billionaire Daniel Och sells 220 Central Park South penthouse for $190M
• Billionaire Joe Tsai revealed as buyer of $157.5M condos at 220 Central Park South

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The Four Seasons hotel in Midtown will reopen next year after being closed since 2020. Following a dispute, hotel owner Ty Warner and Four Seasons management on Thursday announced an agreement was reached to reopen the hotel in the fall of 2024. Located at 57 East 57th Street, the 52-story building designed by I.M. Pei closed in March 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and is one of the last high-end hotels to reopen. Early on during the pandemic, the hotel was used as an emergency location for doctors caring for Covid-19 patients coming from the Upper East Side.

Warner, the inventor of Beanie Babies, purchased the hotel 368-room hotel for $275 million in 1999. Besides the Four Seasons, Warner owns the San Ysidro Ranch and the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara, California, and Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos, Mexico. The Biltmore will also reopen in the fall of 2024.

The hotel’s reopening has been stalled due to a conflict between Warner and Four Seasons, which stemmed from Warner being upset over the high costs of running a hotel and its “lack of profitability,” according to Curbed. Hotel rates have increased by 69 percent since 2019, according to Virtuoso, and Four Seasons have hesitated to increase their prices despite industry trends, according to Crain’s New York.

According to Warner and Four Season, the hotel will prioritize rehiring its furloughed staff. A statement from the team says “renovations and enhancements are planned throughout and the owner and operator look forward to ushering in a new era for both celebrated properties.”

As the Wall Street Journal reported in June, the resolution reached between the owner and operator of the Four Seasons could mean the public spaces at another iconic hotel could reopen.

Four Seasons has been in competition with Raffles Hotels and Resorts to manage the Plaza hotel, which mostly reopened in 2021 except for the Oak Room bar and basement space. With an opening date set for the Four Seasons, the Paris-based Raffles Hotels will likely become the new manager of the Plaza.

RELATED:

• With a tourism comeback expected in NYC, the Plaza sets reopening date

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Six years and an $80 million price cut later, one of New York City’s most iconic penthouse properties has found a buyer. The Woolworth Building’s seven-story penthouse has sold for $30 million, not even a third of the original $110 million asking price. According to the Wall Street Journal, Scott Lynn, chief executive of Masterworks, an online art-investment service, is the buyer. After hitting the market for the jaw-dropping price in 2017, the penthouse, known as the Pinnacle, saw several price chops in recent years and was last publicly listed for $59 million, according to CityRealty.

Described as a “castle in the sky” by Alchemy Properties, which led the condo conversion, the expansive penthouse is located across floors 50 to 58, measuring over 9,600 square feet at 727 feet above New York City. 

The home is surrounded by four turrets and includes a 400-square-foot, 360-degree observatory deck with Gothic-style embellishments and views of the city and beyond in every direction. 

Built in 1913, the Woolworth Building at 2 Park Place was the world’s tallest building when it was completed. Designed by architect Cass Gilbert for developer Frank Winfield Woolworth, construction on the 792-foot-tall neo-Gothic tower cost $13.5 million at the time. Besides its distinct copper crown, the building is known for its striking facade, which is made up of thousands of pieces of terracotta. While it was gradually overshadowed by the many skyscrapers erected around the building since the Woolworth Building retains its landmark status and is recognized as an integral part of New York City’s history.

In 2012, Alchemy converted the top 30 floors of the tower into 33 condos, known as the Woolworth Tower Residences. Alchemy faced some hurdles while converting the building’s crown into a residential unit due to its lack of windows, which didn’t meet the city’s light and air requirements. To remedy this issue, Alchemy received approval from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to expand the existing windows and add six more, in addition to replacing 3,500 tiles of damaged terracotta on the building’s facade.

Sales launched in 2014, with prices ranging from $3.5 million for a 1,209-square-foot unit to $26.4 million for a 6,000-square-foot, full-floor unit with a terrace. The building’s amenities include a fitness center, wine cellar, a spa with a sauna and a hot tub, and a restored basement pool that was once the private pool of Frank Woolworth himself.

That June, the top-floor property’s incredible $110 million price tag was revealed, which made it the highest-asked price for an apartment in Downtown Manhattan at the time.

The apartment still needs millions of dollars worth of finishing and refurbishing, Ken Horn, president of Alchemy Properties, told the WSJ. The home was sold to Lynn as an “unfinished white box,” which Horn says was due to Alchemy knowing that any future owner would come in with “their own visions” for the penthouse.

Many potential buyers were unsure of what they could do with the unit when they came to check it out, so Alchemy brought in architect David Hotson to create a potential design. Hotson proposed a two-story living room with a mezzanine level that resembled the upper deck of a ship. Lynn is said to be working with Hotson on the final design for his new home.

[Via WSJ]

RELATED:

• Massive penthouse in the Woolworth Building’s iconic copper ‘Pinnacle’ lists for $110M
• Floor Plans of the Woolworth’s $110M ‘Pinnacle’ Penthouse Revealed
• New Woolworth Building Listing Reveals Additional Residential Details

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