998 Fifth co-op trades for $18.5M

Show dog owners sell five-bedroom unit overlooking the Met

A unit at stately limestone co-op 998 Fifth Avenue has sold for $18.5 million, according to records filed today with the city. Unit #1W, which had been on the market for about 10 months, closed for $1.5 million less than the asking price — the Dec. 21 deal perhaps ushered along by tax concerns connected to the fiscal cliff.

The sellers, Paul and Joanne Prager, bought the home for $9.4 million in 2006. According to a New York Magazine interview, the couple lived in Soho before the move uptown seven years ago. Joanne Prager is a former banker and current socialite; Paul Prager is an executive in the energy industry. The pair owns an award-winning Irish Water Spaniel, according to previous reports.

They initially listed the home, which looks out onto the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for $22 million.

Past residents of the illustrious 12-story building, situated between 82nd and 83rd streets, include the Guggeneheim and Vanderbilt families, previous reports show.

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The New York Observer once christened the board at 998 Fifth “Manhattan’s slowest,” after the last minute cancellation of a meeting with a buyer who had months previously signed a contract for $16 million for the former apartment of Archibald Cox (the prosecutor in the Watergate case). The sale subsequently fell through.

The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home features the original sconces and marble floors, according to Streeteasy. Cornelia Zagat Eland and Emily Doyle of Stribling & Associates had the listings. Neither immediately responded to request for comment.

David and Deborah Roberts were the buyers, according to records.