From left: Larry Gagosian, the Harkness Mansion and J. Christopher Flowers

High-profile art mogul Larry Gagosian has just closed on the Harkness Mansion, the more than 20,000-square-foot townhouse at 4 East 75th Street, for $36.5 million, the New York Post reported.

J. Christopher Flowers, the private equity magnate who, in 2006, logged the city’s priciest residential transaction ever with his $53 million purchase of the property, got serious about his search for a buyer for the townhouse in the wake of a separation from his wife last year.

In 2009, it was reported that Flowers, who had already put more than $4 million worth of renovations into the 114-year-old, 50-foot-wide mansion, wanted around $50 million for the home. Flowers bought the home from banking heir Jacqui Safra, who used to produce Woody Allen movies. [Post, 1st item]

Libet Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and the sister of Jets owner Woody Johnson, has been exposed as the buyer of this year’s priciest residential sale to date, the Vanderbilt Mansion at 16 East 69th Street, for which she has just handed over upwards of $48 million. That price is also the highest paid for a Manhattan townhouse since the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. According to the Post, Johnson is a close friend of seller and fellow heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, beauty.com founder Roger Barnett, which explains why the couple was able to sell the mansion without a broker. [more]

An Upper East Side townhouse has just gone into contract to an anonymous buyer for upwards of $47 million, which would make for the priciest single-family home sale in New York City since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the five-story, 33-foot-wide townhouse at 16 East 69th Street, once owned by the Vanderbilts, wasn’t officially listed. And after three years of quietly showing the mansion to prospective buyers, the owners — author and cell phone heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, Beauty.com founder Roger Barnett — have found one, sans broker, meaning that no one will be taking home a commission on what will surely be one of the city’s biggest deals of the year. [more]

Listing agent Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens and images of 4 East 84th Street (interior listing photo obtained via the Times)

An Upper East Side townhouse originally commissioned by Frank Woolworth is about to shatter New York City records when it hits the market for $90 million, likely the highest-ever official asking price for a single-family home in Manhattan.

According to the New York Times, Brown Harris Stevens townhouse guru Paula Del Nunzio is readying that listing for 4 East 80th Street, the 17,676-square-foot mansion currently owned by the estate of fitness mogul Lucille Roberts, who died in 2003.

Industry sources said its $90 million asking price will by far eclipse any other for a townhouse in New York City history; Aby Rosen’s 22 East 71st Street and the mansion near Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s, at 1016 Madison Avenue, were each, in 2008, asking $75 million. Neither property sold, and both have since slashed their asking prices. [more]

J. Christopher Flowers, the private equity magnate who, in 2006, logged the city’s priciest residential transaction ever with his $53 million purchase of the Harkness Mansion at 4 East 75th Street, has gotten more serious in his search for buyers for the townhouse in the wake of a separation from his wife, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last year, it was reported that Flowers, who has already put more than $4 million worth of renovations into the 114-year-old, 50-foot-wide mansion, wants around $50 million for the home. But he may be unlikely to get even that, sources now say. Comments

From the October issue: The ranks of Manhattan’s super-high-end listings may have shrunk over
the past year, but the city still boasts a number of properties with
sales prices north of $30 million. It’s no surprise that few of these mega-listings have traded in the
last year, with the global financial crisis paralyzing potential
buyers. But now, very high-end listings are beginning to generate
interest again, albeit at smaller price tags. (Case in point: Madonna’s
new $32.5 million Upper East Side townhouse, originally listed for $42
million in October of 2008). This month, The Real Deal looked at five of the city’s
priciest listings — some new, others market fixtures — along with
other noteworthy properties generating buzz this fall.