Icon Realty Management has a bagel-loving buyer for historic Forbes townhouse

Seven years after buying the townhouse owned by publishing mogul Malcolm Forbes, Icon Realty Management has found a buyer. And the buyer is an entrepreneur with a big-ass taste for luxury real estate… and bagels.

The home at 11 West 12th Street is in contract for about $20 million (about $2,200 a square foot), the Wall Street Journal reported. It hit the market last April asking $28.5 million.

The buyer is J. Carey Smith, the Texas entrepreneur behind “Big Ass Fans” and “Big Ass Lights.” Smith sold his company, Big Ass Solutions, for about $500 million in 2017. He later bought Lance Armstrong’s former home in Austin, which was listed for $7.5 million.

Corcoran Group’s Mark David Fromm represented Smith while Compass’ Kyle Blackmon and Leonard Steinberg represented the sellers.

Forbes, who was known for hosting lavish parties at the home, purchased it in the 1960s. Developers Todd Cohen and Terrence Lowenberg of Icon Realty Management bought the townhouse in 2012 for $7.25 million and have since gutted and modernized the building.

Smith told the Journal he found that new development condos lacked the character he was looking for in a New York home. The townhouse is also near his favorite bagel spot, Bagel Bobs, he told the Journal.

The home spans about 9,000 square feet and features two kitchens, an 800-bottle wine room, a soundproof home theater and a gym. The townhouse also has a garage and a garden. [WSJ] — Meenal Vamburkar