Schrager tries it before he sells it

From left: Ian Schrager, 285 Lafayette Street, and 40 Bond Street

While the expression “try it before you buy it” is familiar in any industry, Ian Schrager, the co-founder of Studio 54 and the head honcho at his self-titled real estate company, flips the adage for his own purposes: try it before you sell it, he says. Which is why Schrager makes a point to live in his hotels before he markets them to the public, according to the New York Times, and why he now resides at 40 Bond Street, a building he developed. But living in Bond means unloading his former home, a 3,990-square-foot penthouse at 285 Lafayette Street, which is currently in contract. The unit, which he put on the market last May, had an asking price of $12.5 million and was being marketed by Dennis Mangone, a senior vice president with Brown Harris Stevens.