Observer » Grammercy

Icelandic Antic: Embattled Viking Sells Gramercy Penthouse for $22 M.

Matt Chaban — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:10:35 -0400

In Europe, Icelander Jon Asgeir Johannesson is best known for invading London and buying up some of its poshest stores before his Baugur empire collapsed amidst claims of fraud and embezzlement to the tune of $2 billion. In New York, his crimes are far worse: invading the penthouse of the Gramercy Park Hotel and outfitting it with drab IKEA fixtures.

Finally some good news for Mr. Johannesson and his stunning wife Ingibjorg Palmadottir, who have just sold his 4,235-square-foot spread at 50 Gramercy Park North to a fellow Viking after two years on the market. According to city records, Mynni Ehf (Icelandic for "Mouth Ltd.") just paid $22 million, and the deed is signed by Eyjólfur Gunnarsson, an investor who might just be the only person left in the land of Björke with any money, following the small island nation's dramatic financial collapse.

Maybe the trick to finally selling the place, which had been asking $25 million, was ditching the IKEA in the three-bedroom, three-bathroom duplex for arch-minimalist John Pawson, as that is who Corcoran's Tim Cass and Trisha Lawton list as having designed the place. Mr. Johannesson purchased two units, one in April and one in May of 2007, for $14 million total to create his home.

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mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo

Since When Can You Live ‘Too Close to the Office?’

Matt Chaban — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:17:06 -0400

Melissa Tabatabai and David Spevak have a big heart but a bad apartment. The dating couple adopted an abused dog when they moved in together two years ago, but they made an impulse move and their midtown home was drab and dirty, especially the backyard their boxer named Max regularly romped in. A move was in order and became the subject of this week's Hunt column in The Times.

It seemed like the usual standard affair: couple with pet struggles to find pet-friendly home. Yet it turned into something entirely different along the way, presenting The Observer with a housing problem we never knew existed.

A place on East 21st Street, renting for $2,400, was well kept. But Mr. Spevak was ambivalent about the loft bedroom, which to him seemed dormlike. Furthermore, the building was too close to his office at a small publishing company. After taking Max for an hourlong morning walk, "I want to take my time going to get an iced coffee or a coffee or whatever" before work, Mr. Spevak said.

Maybe the Real Estate Desk is biased because we all live in the far reaches of Brooklyn (one of us so far down the N line you can sometimes hear the Atlantic churning upon exiting the train) and it takes us nearly an hour as a guest of the M.T.A. to get to work. Still, it sounds like the boyfriend, and not the dog, is in need of some serious house training.

mchaban@observer.com