Billionaires’ Row penthouse will go up for auction

Condo atop Hampshire House could be combined into a triplex

Hampshire House at 150 Central Park South (Photos via Wikipedia)
Hampshire House at 150 Central Park South (Photos via Wikipedia)

A London-based investor is trying a somewhat unusual move to find a buyer for his penthouse on Billionaires’ Row: He’s taking it to auction.

Arnon Katz, the owner of the penthouse atop Hampshire House at 150 Central Park South, has contracted Concierge Auctions to handle the sale of the home. The auction is scheduled to take place in December, the Wall Street Journal reported.

There is no reserve price, but the seller can back out 72 hours before the auction if he or she is dissatisfied with the initial interest levels and the pre-bidding.

Katz has been trying to sell the property since 2018, but the luxury market has been on a downswing since then — one that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. But Katz says he’s “optimistic” about the auction.

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“I believe there is a place for very unique high-end properties in the market,” he told the Journal. “Because it’s so unique, it has the capacity to deliver a good price even in tough times.”

The penthouse comes with pre-approved plans to combine the penthouse with an attic space above into a five-bedroom, making it a nearly 10,000-square-foot triplex with sprawling views of the park.

The listing initially hit the market in 2018 for $25 million. Shawn Elliott of Nest Seekers International told the Journal that it was recently listed, along with his colleague Tal Reznik, for $40 million, but that it could be worth as much as $100 million.

[WSJ] — Akiko Matsuda