At left: 610 Park Avenue; Top center: Nautica founder David Chu; Bottom center: Listing broker Carrie Chiang, of the Corcoran Group; At right: Penthouse 16E
The duplex penthouse at the former Mayfair Hotel, which belongs to Nautica founder David Chu, officially hit the market yesterday at $32.8 million — roughly $4,260 per square foot. The price tag makes it one of the top 10 most expensive condo listings in the city, according to data from Streeteasy.com.
The penthouse is one of two in the 15-story, prewar limestone and brick building, now known as 610 Park Avenue. Investment firm Colony Capital purchased the property for $15 million in a 1996 foreclosure sale and teamed up with Donald Trump in the condo conversion project, which was designed by architect Costas Kondylis.
Chu, the Taiwanese-American apparel mogul, and his wife, Gina, a philanthropist and trustee at the non-profit Asia Society, purchased penthouse 16E at 610 Park Avenue in 1999, city property records show. It had been combined with the unit below, and while sale prices for apartments before 2003 are not publicly available, the pair took out a $5 million mortgage at the time to pay for at least some of the home, according to the records.
The neighboring penthouse, 16A, is that of money manager Gerald Unterman and his wife, Elaine.
As the Observer reported last month, the five-bedroom, 7,700-square-foot spread up for grabs had been on the market as a $75,000-a-month rental since January and was being quietly shopped around to prospective buyers. The sellers’ identities were not revealed at the time.
The Corcoran Group’s Carrie Chiang, who has the listing and declined to comment, took it off the rental market earlier today.
Gina Chu, reached at the 15 Central Park West condo the couple purchased for $2.99 million in 2008, was also mum on the resale listing, but sources confirmed to The Real Deal that the penthouse for sale belongs to the Chus and that there are current tenants in the home.
The apartment boasts a 1,450-square-foot Private Rooftop Terrace, solarium, maid’s room, formal dining room and fireplace. Common charges, which include valet parking, a fitness center, doorman and concierge, are $9,077 per month, according to the listing. Residents can also opt for maid service and catering from French restaurateur Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant downstairs.
As The Real Deal previously reported, Boulud also owns a three-bedroom apartment in the building, which he listed for $6.5 million last month with Brown Harris Stevens’ John Burger.
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