Arel Capital’s Richard Leibovitch sells 220 Central Park South unit for $33M

Arel Capital co-founder Richard Leibovitch has closed on the sale of his 3,700-square-foot apartment at 220 Central Park South for $33 million, as luxury discounts narrow from the height of the pandemic.

Leibovitch was asking $36 million for the unit in January 2020 before chopping the price by $3 million six months later, according to Compass. The 8 percent discount was in line with residential deals in Manhattan’s luxury market, down from an average discount of 11 percent since the start of the year.

The Canadian-born real estate investor bought the 31st-floor condo in December 2018 for $26 million, meaning he pocketed a 26 percent appreciation. He sold it to the Jonathan D. Lewis Trust. Leibovitch also owns a townhouse in the West Village and a condo at the Galleria in Midtown, property records show.

While luxury developers faced pandemic-era pressure to clear their unsold condo inventories, individual resellers were more likely to sit tight – provided they could afford to do so. The well-heeled buyers at 220 Central Park South have fetched $1 billion in sales for sponsor Vornado.

Two of the three largest home purchases in U.S. history took place there. Tech entrepreneur Joe Tsai bought two floors in June for $157 million, while hedge fund manager Ken Griffin bought four floors in 2019 for $238 million.

This story was updated to include other residential properties that Leibovitch owns.