122 East 70th Street: one of the last deals of 2012.

It's a happy New Year for developer David Edelstein and wife Sarah. The couple made a mint on the sale of their townhouse at 122 East 70th Street, nearly doubling their money in just two short years.

The Edelsteins, whose bargain basement buy of the house for $12 million in 2010 shocked the other residents on what some call the loveliest block in all of New York, have sold the five-story manse for $21.45 million, The New York Times reports. Prudential Douglas Elliman brokers Michael Kafka and Theresa Thompson deserve a hand.

Apparently, the 2010 sale did not, as the neighbors worried, lower real estate values. Someone, buying under the guise of an LLC, was willing to give the Edelsteins with a $9.45 million profit. The sale price is close to the $20.2 million that the previous owners had been trying to get a few years back, before they dropped the ask to absurdly low $14.9 million and agreed to take the Edelsteins' low ball offer.

But what a difference two years can make, especially when they span the depths of a recession to what may well be the heights of the trophy market. What else could account for the huge price increase? (It also helps that the Edelsteins got a ridiculously good deal when they bought the house.)

The Edelsteins do not appear to have done any significant work on the home since buying it. It does sound lovely, with four terraces and six fireplaces if the buyers feel like burning any more money.

It was a good year for the most beautiful block in all of New York, with two sales over $20 million. The copper-clad townhouse just down the street at 116 East 70th sold for $22.39 million. Could 120 East 70th be next? Maybe if it takes a hint from the sale next door and drops its asking price down to $25 million.

kvelsey@observer.com

David and Sarah Edelstein (alas, this is not film critic David Edelstein, although excuse us for a moment while we fantasize about journalists living in $20 million townhouses) are asking a rather brazen $24.2 million for their elevatored townhouse, which they bought for just $12 million in 2010.Where do they think they live? 15 CPW?

Who knows? With the way properties have been selling lately, the Edelsteins may just get it. Still, it's unclear what exactly justifies the big price jump. Maybe they Edelsteins are just trying to keep the neighbors happy? After all, the former owners outraged the block's snooty denizens in 2010 when they dropped the $20 million ask to $14.9 million before finally handing it off to the Edelsteins for a mere $12 million.

Apparently, the sale did nothing to drive down values in the area. And we can almost hear the neighbors collective sigh of relief at this audacious ask. The townhouse is, after all, on a block that is often considered the best in New York, as the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing, held by brokers Michael Kafka and Theresa Thompson boasts. The original builders of the block decided that all development on the north side would be set back 10 feet, leaving the extra space "forever free and unoccupied." And how could you let a house with that kind of advantage go for under $20 million? Especially one "wired for security and entertainment" as this one is? (As much as that sounds like a description from a dystopic future).

The buyer, if one ever emerges willing to pay $24 million, will have the privilege of enjoying six wood-burning fireplaces and a roof deck with a kitchenette. Drifting through the rooms of "gracious proportions," the buyer can gaze out one of the many windows, or lounge on one of the four terraces, trying to forget that the home might have been had for half the price just two years ago.

kvelsey@observer.com