Music composer David Zippel, who won a Tony award for his work on “City of Angels” in 1989 and was nominated for an Oscar for Disney’s “Hercules” and “Mulan,” has sold his 17th floor spread at the Century Condominium on Central Park West for $10 million, according to public records filed with the city today.
The lyricist, who listed the 1,900-square-foot, two-bedroom unit at 25 Central Park West, and 63rd Street, for rent several times over the last few years, closed on the sale of the unit Jan. 25, records show. The unit had been listed for rent with James Morgan, senior vice president at the Corcoran Group in 2009 for $30,000 and was relisted for $35,000 in 2010. It most recently dropped its asking rent to $29.500 in August 2011, but was taken off the rental market a month later; there is no record of the apartment ever being on the sales market, suggesting it was a private sale.
The unit, 17N, sold to an anonymous corporation named Dedab LLC, with an address at the law firm of Hartman & Craven at 488 Madison Avenue. A spokesperson for the firm, Neal Dorman, was not immediately available for comment.
Zippel, who also penned the iconic song “The Star-Spangled Man (With a Plan),” for last summer’s blockbuster smash “Captain America,” has owned the pad since 1996, when he purchased it from Florida philanthropist Barbara Schwartz. The value of that transaction was not available in public records. He shared the unit with his longtime partner, architectural and film set designer Michael Johnston, with whom he also owns a 1967 William F. Cody-designed house in Palm Springs. Zippel has been spending time at the Cody home as he prepared to direct “Cy Coleman’s Broadway” at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, according to news reports.
The New York apartment was recently renovated by Johnston, an Architectural Digest-published designer, according to Morgan’s listing. Johnson also operated his business, the Michael Johnston Design Group, from the Upper East Side apartment at one point, according to the design firm’s website. A phone number for the company had been disconnected.
“This apartment is a perfect entertaining home with a 40-foot terrace and living room, generously proportioned dining room and a gracious entry foyer complete with a self- playing grand piano,” the listing said.
Neither Johnston nor Morgan immediately responded to requests for comment and Zippel could not immediately be reached.