Category — Combining Co-ops

A 4½ room 2 bedroom, 2 bath co-op apartment at 75 Central Park West just sold for $2.26 million, only 5½% less than the original asking price of $2,395,000

The sellers were Richard A. Petrocelli, a Managing Director at the merchant bank Saratoga Partners. and >Anna Whalen Petrocelli, a marketing professional who worked at >Colgate-Palmolive for 15½ years.

The buyers are Dr. John M. Leventhal, a pediatrician and the Medical Director of Child Abuse Programs at Yale University’s School of Medicine, and Beverly Hodgson, a former Connecticut Superior Court judge who now works as a mediator and arbitrator.

The pre-war Central Park West co-op was built in 1929 has a full-time doorman and basement storage. The co-op permits buyers to have up to 50% financing. The apartment has a $2,269 monthly maintenance that is approximately 31% tax deductible.

Corcoran brokers Meghan Kelly and Deanna Kory had the exclusive.

What factors might account for the strong sales price in today’s challenging market conditions? Take a look:

• Location, Location, Location. 75 Central Park West is a prima donna address in the heart of the Upper West Side, a walk across the street to Central Park and just a two-minute walk from Lincoln Center.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. From this eighth floor apartment, you can almost reach out and bop Kermit, and Garfield as they pass by!
• The Pieds-à-Terre Factor The buyers (see below) primary residence appears to be in Connecticut. A Manhattan pieds-à-terre co-op in fantastic condition with a prime CPW address has a cachet that will appeal to older, empty nesters, like the buyers.
• Neighbors in the Building Fellow shareholders in the building who are also high-net worth individuals help to maintain strong sales prices.

Here is a look at some current and former residents of 75 Central Park West:

• Wendy Wasserstein used to live in the building. Her estate sold the late playwright’s apartment for $5.2 million in January 2007
• Retired radio personality Don Imus and wife Deirdre Imus paid just over $2 million for a 75 CPW co-op in February 2006.
• Herbert Kleinberger, a former PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner and IBM Global Business Services group leader specializing in retail consulting. Kleinberger and his wife paid $3.2 million in 2005 for their 75 CPW co-op.
• Veteran real estate developer Donald Zucker and wife Barbara Zucker Barbara Zucker who paid a whopping $10.1 million for two combined 10th floor apartments in June 2004.
• Elizabeth Culligan, the former President and COO of A&P, and daughter of the late John Culligan, former CEO of American Home Products Corp., now part of the Pfizer
• Stephen Keller, Managing Director and head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) flow sales for equities at the newly merged Bank of America / Merrill Lynch. Keller paid $4.75 million for his high-floor co-op at 75 CPW in October 2007.

Robert J. McCann , the new CEO of UBS Wealth Management Americas and member of the UBS AG Group Executive Board, and Cynthia M. McCann just paid $3.175 million for a 3 bedroom co-op apartment at One Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village, according to public records.

The 6½-room, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment has a monthly maintenance of $3,295.89, and $329.59 monthly assessment; maintenance is 50% tax-deducitble. The co-op permits up to 65% financing.

The sellers were Arnold Lippa, Senior Managing Director of Aurora Capital, LLC, an investment bank for bioscience and pharmaceutical companies, and the artist Linda Lippa

This co-op sale was faced with some challenges, no the least of which has been the country’s financial crisis that hit hard in the summer of 2008 when it was first put on the market. Broker Ann Weintraub had the exclusive, listing it for $4.95 million in August 2008.

Starting in February 2009, however, the offering price began dropping quickly. First to $4.55M, then $4M a month later, followed by $3.85M, then $3.5M in May. In September, the offering price dropped to $3.275M.

Weintraub tried to generate an even bigger deal, attempting to add another apartment that would have brought the total square footage to over 3,300 square feet for $5.475M. Such a combination would have created a 10-room, 6 bedroom, 5 bath apartment.

Photo: Flickr/wallyg

A 5-bedroom, 3 ½ bath duplex co-op apartment with nearly 3,200 square foot on the Upper West Side just sold for $2,800,000.

Monthly maintenance on the eight (8) room apartment is $8,052.  An extra plus: the unit also includes a 200 square foot terrance facing South.  For this kind of money, it’s no surpise that the co-op apartment comes with a washer and dryer.

The co-op apartment in The Boulevard was originally listed by sellers Tricia and Stephen Jamison for $2,995,000. Stephen Jamison operates Jamison Capital Partners, a hedge fund that he started in the spring of 2009. Prior to that he was a commodity trader at Morgan Stanley.

The buyers were Barry and Jessica Piafsky.  The couple are well known in the bridge community. Barry Piafsky is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.

Mike Sieger of Fenwick Keats Goodstein had the listing for the Jamisons.

Correction: An earlier post incorrectly stated that “one buyer and one seller both work at Morgan Stanley.” Co-seller Stephen Jamison actually “resigned from Morgan Stanley in 2008″ to start his own hedge fund.