The Upper East Side townhouse Irish financier Derek Quinlan sold in December for $20 million is back on the market. According to the Wall Street Journal, the owner, whose identity remains shrouded in mystery, is seeking about the same amount for the 12,600-square-foot townhouse between Madison and Park Avenues, in a sale listed with CBRE Group.
The property is on one of the few sites in the area zoned for commercial use. The home served as the birthplace of the New York Observer in 1987, when publisher Arthur Carter founded it in the property. The paper moved out of the home in 2004, and now is based out of Hell’s KItchen under the stewardship of Jared Kushner.
The townhouse was built for Robert Jenks, and sold to the Near East Foundation in 1947, which used it for four decades before selling it to Carter. In its post-Observer years, the property was used for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House and was owned by Quinlan. He had listed it last year for $25 million. [WSJ, 2nd item]