Billionaire investor Daniel Och last week notched one of New York’s most expensive residential real estate deals when he sold his penthouse at 220 Central Park South for $190 million.
The buyer’s identity was unclear for days after news broke of the eye-catching deal, but New York registry documents reported by Bloomberg show Blue Pool Capital, the family office of Alibaba executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai, spent $188 million on the 73rd-floor unit.
The firm manages part of the fortunes for Tsai and his Alibaba co-founder, Jack Ma.
Och not only came close to a local record, but also nearly doubled what he paid. In 2019, the investor spent approximately $93 million for the apartment, plus about $2 million for a one-bedroom unit on a lower floor.
According to Bloomberg, Blue Pool Capital’s purchase included a maid’s room on the lower floor. The firm also took out a 30-year mortgage through JPMorgan Chase for $71.5 million.
The penthouse includes four bedrooms and spans approximately 9,800 square feet. Deborah Kern from The Corcoran Group represented Daniel Och in the transaction.
Tsai is no stranger to blockbuster deals in Vornado’s 220 Central Park South.
The billionaire was revealed last year as the buyer behind a $157.5 million purchase of two condo units in the building. The deal was believed to be the third-largest home purchase in American history at the time.
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Tsai reportedly spent $82.5 million on the 60th-floor unit and $75 million for the 61st. The purchase also included a studio apartment on a lower floor, potentially to be used for staff.
In total, the two purchases tied to Tsai exceed the $238 million hedge funder Ken Griffin spent at the building in 2019, the record for the most expensive home sale in the U.S.
Vornado’s building has managed to remain profitable through the pandemic by inking eight-figure deals and scoring big-name buyers. The condo tower helped keep Vornado in the black, even while its retail and office portfolio struggled.
In December, Vornado surpassed $3 billion of sales at the building when Robert Grossman, the dean of NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, bought an apartment for $14.5 million.
[Bloomberg] — Holden Walter-Warner