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]

From left: Ara Hovnanian, the townhouse at 16 West 12th Street, and 820 Fifth Avenue, the Hovnanians’ former home (Building photos source: PropertyShark)

Developer Ara Hovnanian and his wife Rachel closed on a townhouse at 16 West 12th Street earlier this week, the Post reported. The home, which was originally listed for $24.975 million early last year, belonged to divorcing couple Luke and Julie Janklow, the Sweetiepie restaurant founder, who purchased it for $4.5 million in 2004. The most recent asking price was $17.9 million. Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens had the listing. The Hovnanian’s sold their 820 Fifth Avenue apartment to socialite and philanthropist Lily Safra last year for $33 million — they were asking $35 million — but not before a $31 milliion bid by Jeff Blau, president of the Related Companies, was famously rejected by the building’s co-op board. [Post]
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From left: Lily Safra, Ken Griffin and 820 Fifth Avenue (Building photo source: PropertyShark)

In a high-end game of musical chairs, socialite and philanthropist Lily Safra sold one cooperative apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue at 63rd Street for $40 million to a hedge fund manager and on the same day bought another in the same building for $33 million from home building CEO Ara Hovnanian.

Safra closed on the sale of the 12th-floor unit to Kenneth Griffin as well as the purchase of the fourth-floor unit from Hovnanian, CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises on Dec. 16, city property records show. Residential real estate Web site Coopsales.com first reported the $40 million Safra sale today. Reports from October said Griffin, founder of the $13 billion hedge fund Citadel Investment Group, was going to buy Hovnanian’s fourth-floor unit, but instead he bought Safra’s, city records show. Safra is the widow of Edmond Safra, a billionaire banker.

Hovnanian Enterprises is in a difficult financial period, reporting this month its 13th consecutive quarterly loss.

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