A personal real estate investment.

What better way to pass these strange, disordered days after Hurricane Sandy than by inking the contract for a $27.5 million apartment on the Upper East Side? Harry Macklowe's son, budding real estate dynamo Billy Macklowe, certainly thought so, at least according to The New York Post. The Post reports that Mr. Macklowe signed an under-ask contract for a four-bedroom, 5.5-bath co-op apartment at 950 Fifth Avenue.

Mr. Macklowe, who first stepped out of his father's real estate shadow with a 636 Avenue of the Americas buy last November, has apparently decided it's time to acquire a new home more suited to his growing reputation in the real estate world. The duplex apartment spanning the fifth and sixth floors certainly (and perhaps more than) fits the bill. A sprawling prewar pad overlooking Central Park with parquet de Versailles floors, lots of wood-burning fireplaces (in case the next hurricane hits the Upper East Side) and plenty of built-ins and custom cabinetry, the co-op is listed with Stribling brokers Cindy Kurtin and Jessica Vertullo Maher.

But is it as nice as sis Elizabeth Macklowe's co-op at 740 Park? Ms. Macklowe and estranged husband Kent Swig's home was, last we heard, in the midst of foreclosure proceedings, but it's hard to beat a spread in the fanciest building in the city. Perhaps Mr. Macklowe's purchase was inspired by a little sibling rivalry. Or a brave show of support for the city as it grapples with rebuilding in the days ahead?

kvelsey@observer.com