Apparently, once you purchase a $27 million penthouse, completing a massive renovation loses its luster.
Early this year, Alan Meltzer (at left in picture), co-founder and chief executive of Wind-up Entertainment, purchased a palatial 8,687-square-foot penthouse at celebrity-filled One Beacon Court.
But that left one question: what would he do with his penthouse apartment at 944 Park Avenue and the additional unit of raw space he purchased underneath? Buying at Beacon, Mr. Meltzer had no need to construct the 6,150-square-foot triplex on Park Avenue.
So he decided to start selling. Shortly after buying the 50th Floor apartment, Mr. Meltzer listed the two Park Avenue units as a 15-room penthouse triplex for $19.5 million, with broker Curtis Jackson of Brown Harris Stevens. Occupying the top three floors in this pre-war building, the apartment also included three planted terraces measuring an additional 2,300-square-feet.
But after only a month-and-a-half on the market, the pricey listing disappeared. The Meltzers had been living in the penthouse duplex since 1995, when they purchased it for $3 million. Eight years later, when the 3,405-square-foot space became available once floor below, Mr. Meltzer snatched it up for $6.5 million. He intended to create the triplex home before (like many high-end buyers before him), he fell for One Beacon Court. Indeed, the Cesar Pelli-designed tower has attracted numerous A-list buyers: including singer Beyonce Knowles, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, former G.E chief executive Jack Welch, hedge-fund executive Steven Cohen, and Renault Formula One managing director Flavio Briatore. 
Instead of re-listing the entire apartment as a triplex, Mr. Meltzer put the raw space at 944 Park Avenue on the market with a $7.9 million price tag, listed again with Mr. Jackson of Brown Harris Stevens. The full-floor condo includes high ceilings, picture windows, and park and city views. Breaking up the units seems to have worked better, because the apartment recently sold for $7.2 million. Although under the asking price, it’s still $700,000 more than Mr. Meltzer bought it for in 2003.
Most likely, when settled into the 58th Street luxury tower, Mr. Meltzer’s duplex penthouse will end up on the market as well. But the picky record executive has had quite a history buying and selling in some of Manhattan’s finest buildings.
Mr. Meltzer had flirted before with the idea of leaving his Park Avenue duplex behind for a condo just up the street. In 2000, he purchased New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine’s 11-room spread at 515 Park Avenue for $18 million. About four months later he changed his mind, and flipped it for $18.2 million to a technology investor.
– Michael Calderone
