By Stephen Jacob Smith 4/29 6:04pm

Manhattan Transfers

No word on whether the Times globe comes with the apartment.

Breaking News! Punch Sulzberger’s Old Fifth Avenue Pad Sells For $12.5 M.

The newspaper industry may be in secular decline, but at least the Sulzbergers’ bank accounts will be buoyed in the coming months: the late Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger, Sr.‘s palatial pad just sold for a cool $12.5 million, according to city records.

The eighth-floor corner unit at 1010 Fifth Avenue, a 15-story limestone prewar, has three bedrooms, including the master, which overlook the Metropolitan Museum of Art, plus another overlooking East 82nd Street. And it also has no shortage of storage space: we count 18 closets, including a few walk-ins (the Times may need to find a new place to keep its archives).

Sheila Ellis at Sotheby’s was tight-lipped about her listing when we called, which she shared with Patricia Wheatley, though the duo wasn’t shy about touting its bold-faced bonafides in the listing, which described the co-op as “the home of one of the world’s most prestigious and well known families.” Read More

By Kim Velsey 2/08 11:51am

Manhattan Transfers

They're not exactly giving it away at $15 million either. (NYT)

A Missing Rear Wall Does Merit a Discount: Hollow Shell Of a Townhouse Closes for $15 M.

It turns out that the townhouse at 12 East 82nd Street did not, in fact, sell for anything close to its $19 million asking price. An in-progress gut renovation and a missing rear wall proved daunting, even in this giddy trophy market.

When The Observer first learned that the five-story brick federal townhouse was in contract early this January, we were taken aback. We have, after all, seen a lot of bold asking prices and Janna Bullock, the Russian developer selling the place, is famously fearless when it comes to defending her real estate investments and her honor. But $19 million beggared belief. Assuming that the would-be owners had likely knocked the price down, we called Sotheby’s broker Nikki Field, who has the listing with colleague Patricia Wheatley. Read More

By Kim Velsey 1/09 11:37am

Manhattan Transfers

But the back is a mess. (NYT)

Hollow Shell of a Townhouse In Contract for Close to $19 M. Ask

You know that the luxury real estate market has reached a fever pitch when gutted townhouses with only three walls start selling for $19 million. True, it is the back wall that’s missing from 12 East 82nd Street, but backless townhouses don’t have the same allure as backless gowns.

The five-story brick federal townhouse is in contract for close to the $19 million ask, confirmed Sotheby’s broker Nikki Field, who has the listing with colleague Patricia Wheatley.

Russian developer Janna Bullock, the owner of the townhouse and its next-door neighbor, is not known for her timidity—last year she mounted an art exhibit at 14 East 82nd to strike back at all the nasty rumors that have been circulating about her in the Russian press. But it takes a certain kind of chutzpah to ask mint-condition prices for an empty shell. (A chutzpah, we might add, that has been amply rewarded.) Read More