Category — Central Park West

Moby’s spectacular penthouse co-op apartment in the El Dorado at 300 Central Park West is still on the market for $7.5 million, but is it in contract again?


In January, the El Dorado’s co-op board rejected Moby’s potential buyer, despite reportedly being close to his asking price.

Now, however, his real estate brokers do not have the apartment amongst their listings. Moby’s agents include:

• John Edwards at Corcoran
• Joan McArdle at Prudential Douglas Elliman
• Lee Zimmerman at Corcoran

The real question is whether that means the cooperative apartment is in contract.

Moby — whose real name is Richard Melville Hall — bought the apartment for $4.5 million in 2005 from Robert C. Schuler.

This is a gem of an apartment rising four floors to the top of the El Dorado’s southwestern tower overlooking CPW.

Photo credits ElDoradoPenthouse.com

Today’s WSJ has a great article on how Manhattan apartment prices — co-ops and condo prices alike — are “humming along” at strong prices


WSJ reporter Jeff Opdyke writes “SoHo, the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Murray Hill, the Upper West Side and Harlem are all up in the past year,” citing DataQuick Zip Code analysis.

This blog recently noted that co-op Manhattan apartment prices remain largely unaffected by the current real estate debacle, because co-op apartment buyers must meet a stringent set of financial criteria established by the co-op board.

Co-op Boards have a fiduciary duty — a financial responsibility — to protect the financial interests of other shareholders (i.e., their neighbors) in the building. They can legally reject prospective apartment owners if they believe that a low sales price of an apartment would seriously reduce the value of other apartments in the building.

If you’re hoping to buy a Manhattan co-op at a fire sale price, fuggedaboutit!

Material girl and savvy businesswoman Madonna just paid $7 million for her neighbor’s adjoining co-op apartment at 1 West 64th Street and Central Park West. The cooperative is known as Harperley Hall.

That appears to put an end to her breach of contract lawsuit against the coop board and managing agent Midboro Management which claimed they held up the sale of 868 shares allocated to neighbor Julie Clarke Thayer’s apartment.

Madonna’s neighbors include:

• Actress Fran Drescher, who paid $1,895,000 for her co-op in 2004 via a trust that she created;
• N.Y. Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger;
• Bob Weinstein, the film executive who is joined at the hip in Hollywood with his brother Harvey;
• Lamberto Andreotti, the Executive Vice President and President of Worldwide Pharmaceuticals at Bristol-Meyers Squibb. He paid $5 million for his apartment.

When it’s combined, this will be quite the space! Her existing apartment is a 6,000-square-foot duplex with its own gym and beauty salon.

This will make for a nice space for the entertainer, hubby Guy Ritchie, and their kids. They’ll be able to reach out and touch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons! Interestingly, the co-op was purchased by Madonna in her name only.

Hats off to her NYC real estate attorneys for making the deal go through.

Photo credits: Flickr and Tony Barton