2 East 67th Street

The third floor of one of Manhattan’s premiere pre-war co-ops, 2 East 67th Street, appears to have been re-listed today with an asking price of $30 million, $8 million less than in 2009, according to Streeteasy.com.

The five-bedroom, five-bathroom unit was last listed by Greek pharmaceutical executive Athanase Lavidas, according to published reports. In 2008, the Fifth Avenue co-op was asking $43 million, and since that was not too long after Jonathan Tisch, the Loews Corporation co-chairman, famously dropped $48 million for the 11th floor of the grandiose building, that price might not have been unreasonable. In 2009, the price was chopped to $38 million, Curbed reported. As no relevant sales for that building appear in city records, it appears the Greek baron is the seller of the unit. [more]

From left: 740 Park Avenue, 834 Fifth Avenue, 4 East 66th Street and 2 East 67th Street

From the June issue: Like mushrooms, glass-walled condos and fancy rentals with wine storage popped up with fury across the city in recent years, and seemed to fundamentally alter New York’s housing stock in the process.

No longer would the pinnacle of city living be the exclusive Uptown co-ops that had ruled the roost for decades, the trend seemed to suggest, but instead this new crop of buildings with impressive architecture and an A-to-Z range of luxuries. It didn’t hurt that they were a lot easier to get into.

Indeed, why would a buyer subject himself (or herself) to invasive co-op board packages and taxing interviews, the thinking went, when that buyer could get just as nice a home without having to trot out reference letters galore?

But then a funny thing happened when the recession hit: Many condos tanked in value, in part because their open-door policy was seen as exposing them to risks like job-challenged residents missing maintenance payments. Meanwhile, co-ops, whose residents are required to have deep cash reserves, generally weren’t so hard-hit. [more]

Socialite and philanthropist Lily Safra’s son, Eduardo, is in contract on two adjacent co-op apartments at 2 East 67th Street for approximately $18 million combined — a 25 percent discount off their last combined asking price of $24 million, and a nearly 50 percent discount off of their original combined asking price: $34.5 million, according to the Post. The two apartments, each with two bedrooms and four bathrooms, comprise the entire fourth floor and are said to be in good condition. In 2008, Loews CEO Jonathan Tisch bought an 11th-floor apartment in the same building that needed major renovations for $48 million. The full third-floor unit below the new pad recently saw a $5 million price cut to $38 million. [Post, 3rd item]

Serena Boardman (Photo credit: Patrick McMullan)

From the December issue: It’s 2005, and golden-haired socialite
Serena Boardman is sunning herself on a yacht near the coast of
Sardinia in Italy. Nearby, her friend Dori Cooperman — now best known
for befriending actress Lindsay Lohan in rehab — is on the phone with
a reporter from W Magazine, chronicling the addictive qualities of
photo Web site PatrickMcMullan.com. Boardman interjects with her
opinion of the site, which documents the social lives of New York
City’s glitterati. “Tell him it captures a moment,” she shouts. Until
recently, the scene was typical for the 39-year-old Boardman, the
jet-setting heiress to a banking fortune whose stepmother is a European
princess. Along with society pals like Alexandra von Fürstenberg and Blaine Trump, Boardman spent her 20s being photographed in couture gowns at galas and benefits all over New York and Palm Beach, often with her equally glamorous sister, Samantha. Magazines chronicled her taste in clothes (Roberto Cavalli ruffled cocktail dresses) and jewelry (Verdura). She held jobs at the Web site Luxuryfinder.com and in the jewelry department at Sotheby’s. But to the media they were a postscript to Boardman’s glamorous social life. So it comes as a surprise to those who know Boardman that only a few years later, she’s morphed into one of the most successful real estate brokers in the business. [more]

From the November issue: During the boom years, Manhattan real estate seemed like an open book.
As prices climbed higher, news of record-breaking Manhattan deals –
like Harry Macklowe’s $60 million Plaza buy or Jonathan Tisch’s $48
million co-op purchase at 2 East 67th Street — was reported not just
throughout the country, but all over the globe. With city data about real estate transactions being published
online, some brokers jockeyed to have their names linked with
high-profile sales. Buying or selling a high-priced Manhattan apartment
became a badge of honor.
Still, there was an element of polite society that preferred its
real estate quiet, working with discreet brokers who could be trusted
to keep their names and activities out of the headlines.

In late August, developer Aby Rosen caused tongues to wag when he bumped up the price of his newly renovated townhouse at 3 East 94th Street to $24.75 million from $23.75 million. While this asking figure pales in comparison to the space’s original price — $29.5 million — some say Rosen’s move was indicative of the changing luxury landscape in Manhattan real estate, one in which some sellers now feel comfortable raising their prices. Michael Lemos, a Greek shipping heir, is another seller toying with increasing his home price. He raised the asking figure on his 14-room co-op at 2 East 67th Street up to $45 million this summer. “The seller feels that $45 million is appropriate,” listing agent Dolly Lenz, vice chairman at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said.