Stephen Ross’ Columbus Circle PH in contract for nearly 50% off

Stephen Ross’ Columbus Circle penthouse is in contract with a massive cut off its initial asking price.

The Related Companies chairman and Miami Dolphins owner last asked $49.9 million for the condo, before it went into contract for $40 million, people familiar with the deal told the Wall Street Journal. The deal, which comes out to around $4,800 per square foot, is a near-50 percent chop down from $75 million, which Ross first asked when listing the apartment with his then-wife in 2019.

The real estate developer and jewelry designer Kara Ross have since split, and split up with several listing brokers along the way. Adam Modlin, founder of the eponymous boutique brokerage, had the listing. The broker declined the Journal’s request for comment on the price or buyer.

Not only did Related partner with AREA Property Partners to build the complex, but Ross has owned the 8,500-square-foot penthouse since the development. The Real Deal previously reported the unit came into his possession as a “distribution” in the place of cash profits, likely dodging income taxes.

The property, formerly known as the Time Warner Center, was completed in the early 2000s.

The unit has a wood-paneled den, a library with upholstered walls and a 42-foot living room overlooking Central Park.

The Rosses told the Journal at the time of the listing they were doing so to move to Hudson Yards, Related’s megadevelopment on the West Side of Manhattan.

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Ross is currently serving a suspension from the National Football League for allegedly tampering with six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady while he was under contract with the New England Patriots and again after he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ross, who became the team’s majority owner in 2009, likely won’t be missing the $35 million he left on the table for the Columbus Circle deal. His net worth rose to $8.3 billion from $7.2 billion during the height of the pandemic. Despite the massive fortune, a ProPublica investigation published last year revealed the developer didn’t pay a cent in federal taxes from 1996 to 2017.

Manhattan’s luxury market has slumped in recent weeks. Just 14 homes asking $4 million or more went into contract last week, down from the two weeks prior, as all levels of the market contend with rising interest rates and stock market uncertainty.