Amazing and amazingly dull, all at the same time.

Time Warner is not the only big fish cashing out on Columbus Circle. The Lincoln Square mega-development is also losing David Kwok Po Li, the CEO and chairman of Bank of East Asia and former Hong Kong politician, who has just sold his 72nd-floor condo. (Related honcho Kenneth Himmel also cleared out late last year.)

Nor is he the only one who stands to profit from the decision. While Time Warner is contemplating how much it could make by clearing out of its headquarters, a process that might well set off a bidding war, Mr. Li did very, very well, doubling his money in under a decade.

An $18.8 million view.

The Hong Kong honcho bought the 3,491-square-foot condo back in 2004 as Harbour-Land Enterprises Limited, paying $9.68 million. Now, he's sold the four-bedroom, 4.5-bath spread for an astounding $18.8 million, according to city records.

That Mr. Li agreed to buy the duplex (with an internal elevator, to journey between just two floors) in the days immediately following September 11, 2001, when living in twin towers was a palm-sweat inducing proposition, may have helped him lock in a good price. And he wasn't shy about trying to get a much, much better one when he sold. He listed the apartment in May for $20 million with Corcoran brokers Carrie Chiang and Janet Wong.

The mysterious buyer is AEH Jay Corp, care of a Rockefeller Plaza law firm. Whoever he, she or they are, AEH will enjoy "stunning Central Park views" from every room, according to the listing, and luxurious amenities as impeccable and inscrutable as a foreign banker.

Whoever AEH is, do stainless steel kitchen appliances made by Sub-Zero and Miele make their hearts leap as much as a shift in currency exchange rates? Or are these features simply the basic accoutrements of the cash-coddled life for a Time Warner Center-buying corporation? A life where one does not have to so much as share a master bathroom with his or her partner (the suite has two).

When it comes right down to it, why share the suite, or even the apartment at all? We predict that the next trend in luxury real estate will be his and her apartments.

The living room is surprisingly old-fashioned for the Time Warner Center.

Can we really blame Kenneth A. Himmel for wanting to put the Time Warner Center behind him? The President and CEO of Related Urban spent years overseeing the skyscraper's construction, then he moved into a three-bedroom condo on the 67th floor.

"Developing Time Warner Center was like climbing the mountain of mountains," Mr. Himmel declares on Related's website. We guess he also tired of climbing that same mountain day after day, even if it was in a super-sleek high-speed elevator. After more than a decade, the bloom was off the rose.

Mr. Himmel, who first listed the 2,416-square-foot apartment in 2010, has finally sold the space for $13.8 million, according to city records. The buyer is the mysterious Columbus Skyline LLC., which is registered to 10 East 39th Street, Suite 1110.

Ditto the bedroom. Maybe sleek glass just wasn't Mr. Himmel's speed.

One thing is for certain: the buyer is sure to be getting a choice pad. All sellers generally claim that their apartment is one of the finest in the building, but we're pretty sure Mr. Himmel wrangled one of the best spots at 25 Columbus Circle. Although it wasn't enough to get the most recent $15.25 million asking price, a discount from the 2011 listing price of $18.37 million but not so far from the 2010 list price of $15 million.

Amazing park views, a paneled 27-by-20 great room and a "magical cherry paneled library with bar and en suite bath" are nice, after all, but not, apparently, magical enough for the asking price.  Perhaps Sotheby's listing brokers Elizabeth Sample and Brenda Powers should have elaborated a little more on what was so magical.

It's unclear what, if anything, Mr. Himmel paid for the unit. City records show a deed transfer between him and the company for $0. Maybe the condo was a project bonus? Alas, said records do not reveal where Mr. Himmel is going next. Maybe he has his eye on one of Related's still Hudson Yards skyscrapers? Only time will tell.

kvelsey@observer.com

This was ostensibly a blow to a daydreaming real estate community relishing the possibility of a palatial eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom duplex combination of Mr. Von Allmen’s apartment with neighbor Steven Feder’s 4,500-square-foot abode, also listed by the savvy Ms. Powers and Ms. Sample, for a grand total of $57.5 million. (Mr. Feder, the fortune-telling phony behind the Miss Cleo empire, was also listing his apartment independently for $35 million, making the option of combination a $4 million privilege.)

But now it looks like floorplan fanatics may be in luck.

According to sources close to the deal and an internal brokers' database, the duplexes have gone to contract in a single deal. The $57.5 million trade is listed in the internal database as "contract signed," a fact that has been confirmed as well by brokers familiar with the deal  (Ms. Powers and Ms. Sample declined to comment).

It is unclear whether the Post was mistaken in its reporting of the single unit sale or whether the unnamed Russian tycoon actually decided to double his pleasure and take both. In either case, brokers with knowledge of the deal suspect a foreign buyer looking for a lavish pied-à-terre. The proposed home would be graced with three kitchens, eight bedroom suites, 12 marble bathrooms (plus two powder rooms) and an in-apartment elevator in case one wearies from the “grand sweeping staircase” or requires respite from the floor- to 12-foot ceiling-ed windows that offer views of Central Park (160 linear feet of Park frontage between the two levels ensures a comprehensive view) as well as the Statue of Liberty, the George Washington Bridge and the Atlantic Ocean. The other side of which they likely hail from.

cmalle@observer.com