UES townhouse embroiled in legal fight fetches $19.5M

A five-story townhouse, at 18 East 73rd Street between Fifth and Madison avenues, has sold for $19.5 million to an undisclosed buyer, the New York Observer reported.

Corinne Pulitzer of Douglas Elliman listed the home for $24 million in October, then $22.8 million in February and most recently $21.5 million.

“All the other houses that seem to be languishing a bit seem to be east of Madison, but this is clearly a sale of ‘location, location, location,’” Pulitzer told the Observer.

She said she dropped the price because many prospective buyers have told her they would want to renovate the 1866 home, owned by attorney George Pavia and his wife, Antonia Pavia, as reported by The Real Deal.

The home was formerly at the center of a massive legal dispute between its owners and a tenant who accused the couple of allowing mold to spread through his apartment and of failing to disclose the rent-stabilized status of the building.

The brokerage held a swanky book signing event at the home in February to boost interest.

The Pavias lived on the first three floors of the house, which have three bedrooms, four bathrooms, two kitchens, a library and four fireplaces. The top two floors, which the couple rented out, are made up of a studio apartment and three one-bedroom apartments. The new owner plans to “gut renovate the entire house and he’s going to live there,” Pulitzer told the Observer. [NYO] – Mark Maurer