Former China Institute townhouse asks $38M

125East65
125 East 65th Street

An Upper East Side townhouse that was home to the China Institute of America for roughly seven decades is back on the market – as a single-family home – asking $38 million, or nearly 73 percent more than its last sale price.

The current owner paid $22 million in September 2014 for the Neo Georgian house, located at 125 East 65th Street, property records show, after the China Institute had listed it for $32 million.

Identified in public records as “125 East 65th Street Inc.,” the current owner converted the property into a single-family home. The current price breaks down to roughly $3,584 per square foot.

Located between Park and Lexington avenues, the 35-foot-wide house spans about 10,600 square feet. It has five bedrooms, five fireplaces and an elevator. The 1905 house also has original details such as painted beamed ceilings and herringbone floors.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

The house is among several back on the market with a jacked-up asking price. Five years after a townhouse at 12 East 63rd Street sold for $20 million, it’s currently listed at $77 million.

The average sale price for Upper East Side townhouses dropped 9.3 percent to $11.9 million during the first half of 2015, according to townhouse brokerage Leslie J. Garfield. The average price per foot was $1,867, down 2.1 percent. Those decreases were driven by the absence of sales above $50 million during the first part of the year, the brokerage reported.