From left: the exterior of 15 Central Park West and the interior of unit #37C

Meridian Capital CEO William Lawrence has found a buyer for his three-bedroom 15 Central Park West apartment, the New York Observer reported. Lawrence relisted his 2,761-square-foot spread on the 37th floor of the ultra-luxury building in February for $24 million, and the Observer said he got nearly that — $23.95 million — though the buyer’s identity was not disclosed. Lawrence and wife Gloria bought the pad for $10.6 million in 2008. [more]

From left: 15 Central Park West and Dimitri Rybolovlev

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, the secretive buyer of the record-shattering $88 million apartment at 15 Central Park West, is in the middle of a protracted, contentious divorce. And the casualties are none other than his gorgeous properties, the New York Times reported.

The 15 CPW unit, which Rybolovlev bought from Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill last year, has only one piece of furniture in it currently — a single lamp, the Times said. Rybolovlev’s daughter bought the apartment from her father through a trust he set up in February. [more]

Dmitry Rybolovlev and15 Central Park West

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev did not have his daughter in mind when he purchased Sandy Weill’s $88 million condominium unit at 15 Central Park West, according to a lawsuit filed by his wife, which said their daughter doesn’t even attend school in New York.

The New York Post cited court papers filed by Elena Rybolovleva that allege the record-setting apartment purchase was made, through layers of LLCs, in an effort to hide assets from his estranged wife. [more]

From left: 15 CPW, Time Warner Center and the Plaza

Not only is the high-end of the Manhattan housing market healthy, but in some respects it’s performing just as well as it did during the market’s peak, according to the Wall Street Journal. Seven deals worth more than $30 million have been recorded this year, not including Sanford Weill’s recent $88 million sale, the most since 2008 and the third-most ever. Further, the $6,000 per square foot price point that was noteworthy even in 2008 has become somewhat more commonplace, the Journal said.

The astronomical prices are buoyed by a shortage of ultra-luxury apartments, according to brokers, as the world’s wealthiest people are moving assets right now. [more]

From left: Former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill and 15 CPWFormer Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill is putting his 15 Central Park West penthouse on the market for $88 million, more than twice what he paid for it in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported. Weill and his wife plan to donate the proceeds to charity and downsize to a sixth-floor apartment they own in the building.

The Weills paid $43.7 million for the 6,744-square-foot apartment in 2007, or more than $6,400 per square foot, then a record for price paid per square foot. The current price per square foot record holder is another penthouse in the building, which sold for $40 million, or $9,940 per square foot, in December 2010, according to the Journal. [more]

The pool at 15 Central Park West

From the July issue: One of the selling points emphasized by brokers at the Edge condominium in Williamsburg is the major weekend scene at the pool, with lots of sunbathing, picnicking and socializing. At 20 Pine’s pool in the Financial District, neighbors regularly practice yoga and host parties.

But there will be no pool parties at 15 Central Park West this summer. Even as the weather heats up, the atmosphere at the über-exclusive condominium remains subdued, residents say, and the pool area is often deserted.

The Robert A.M. Stern-designed building has become the condominium of choice for hotshot celebrities like Denzel Washington and Sting, and finance bigwigs such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Citigroup Chairman Emeritus Sanford Weill. [more]

William Zeckendorf and 927 Fifth Avenue

William Lie Zeckendorf could probably teach his legion of real estate brokers a thing or two about doing a deal. According to the New York Observer, the co-owner of Terra Holdings, parent company of Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens, flipped the top half of a 927 Fifth Avenue duplex for as much as $5 million profit in a matter of six months.

Sources told the Observer that the five-bedroom spread sold for “well over” its $31.5 million asking price, and may have even brought in more than $34 million. Zeckendorf paid $29.1 million for the portion of Bruce Wasserstein’s old duplex in a one-day auction in December. BHS’ John Burger brokered the deal but wasn’t available for comment. [more]

Another day, another stunning 15 Central Park West resale attempt.

On the 37th floor of the Zeckendorf brothers’ limestone masterpiece, the owners of a 2,761-square-foot, three-bedroom spread are angling for a roughly $13 million profit on their original purchase price.

The $23.95 million asking price for the unit, which belongs to William Lawrence, founder of Meridian Capital Partners, and his wife, Gloria, and which popped up on the resale market yesterday, places it squarely in the building’s top tier, though it is hardly setting records.

But nonetheless, a 124 percent markup (the Lawrences’ paid just under $10.7 million for the apartment in 2008) is nothing to sneeze at, and is one of the most ambitious resale attempts in the past year at one of the city’s most celebrated condominiums. [more]

A floorplan for the $55 million combination spread, Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who used to rent the lesser of the two units, and the exterior of 15 Central Park West

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has officially moved out of his blockbuster 15 Central Park West rental, but those hoping to snag his place are out of luck — at least until next year.

Leroy Schecter, the steel mogul who owns both A-Rod’s former unit and the one next door, and who has been trying to sell them for a combined $55 million since last March, pulled the listing from the market this week. Emily Beare, the Core broker in charge of marketing the 35th-floor condominiums on Schecter’s behalf, told The Real Deal that the owner is planning to physically combine the units in an attempt to generate higher offers. [more]

15 Central Park West

From the January issue: More than any other new building, 15 Central Park West represents the crème de la crème of Manhattan’s high-end real estate market. Developed by brothers William and Arthur Zeckendorf, the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condo has lured the city’s wealthiest buyers since its inception. All of its 202 apartments were sold — for approximately $2 billion — before the doors opened in late 2007.

In March 2008, The Real Deal published a unit-by-unit breakdown of buyers at the limestone behemoth. At the time, purchasers included Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon, Oscar winner Denzel Washington and musician Sting.

This month, The Real Deal revisited 15 CPW to see who’s closed on apartments there in the last year, using city data, published reports and the listings aggregator StreetEasy. [more]