Russian billionaire in contract to buy co-op for record $75M

Roman Abramovich and 828 Fifth Avenue
Roman Abramovich and 828 Fifth Avenue

Russian billionaire and owner of the Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich is in contract to Buy A Fifth Avenue mansion for $75 million. If the deal for 828 Fifth Avenue closes at that price, it would dwarf the $54 million David Geffen paid for 785 Fifth Avenue, which is currently the record sale price for a co-op in the city.

Abramovich and his longtime girlfriend Dasha Zhukova have been eyeing the city’s tony mansions for the past year, the New York Post reported. The couple has two American-born children together, according to the newspaper.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

British real estate developer Howard Ronson had dreamed of uniting the nine co-op units at 828 Fifth Avenue as a single-family home. While the Ronson family managed to buy four of the nine units at the mansion, between 63rd and 64th streets on the Upper East Side, including the penthouse, they gave up trying to acquire the whole parcel in May 2012, according to previous reports. At that point, the Ronson family put their four units on the market for a whopping $72 million. The listing was taken off the market in November 2012.

It is unclear how many units Abramovich would purchase in the deal. [NYP]Hiten Samtani