‘Juno’ producer nabs ex-MTA chair’s co-op

Hollywood producer Kelli Konop is the buyer of former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Jay Walder’s Upper West Side co-op, according to public records filed with the city. Konop’s co-producer credits include the surprise hit, “Juno,” as well as the cancer comedy “50/50,” Drew Barrymore’s “Whip It,” and the “Harold and Kumar” comedy franchise. She and David Weintraub, also listed on the deed, paid $1.61 million for the three-bedroom unit at 65 West 95th Street, records show.

Walder first listed the home last October with Stribling & Associates’ Jeffrey Stockwell and Shallini Mehra, asking almost $1.8 million, according to Streeteasy.com. Last July, Walder abruptly resigned from the MTA, and he took a job running Hong Kong’s transit system.

Konop, an executive vice president at the independent film production company Mandate Pictures, signed a deal to buy the ninth-floor unit in March. The sale closed on May 29, records show.

The apartment boasts “generous bedroom sizes,” an “oversized” master bedroom that could be converted to a home office or fourth bedroom, and wood floors “stained with a custom chocolate blend,” according to the listing. But perhaps its most distinctive feature is that buyers at the 71-unit, 10-story co-op building do not need board approval to purchase.

Walder bought the apartment in July 2010 for just under $1.6 million, records show. At the time, transit union workers protested over the pricey real estate investment, which came amidst subway service cuts and fare hikes.

Walder assumed the top MTA post in 2009, but two years into his six-year contract announced he would resign to become the head of MTR Corp., which operates Hong Kong’s subway and commuter rail services.

Stockwell and Mehra did not immediately return requests for comment. An email to Mandate Pictures was not returned. It was not clear who represented the buyers in the deal.