A long vacant 12-room unit inside the Art Deco building at 55 Central Park West — a space once home to Calvin Klein — has hit the market, asking $35 million, according to the New York Times. For nearly 12 years, the apartment’s 5,000 square feet of interior space and 2,000 square feet of terraces were used merely as an occasional party space for current owner Steve Gottlieb, owner of the video chatting platform Shindig. But after giving up on renovation, Gottlieb has placed the unit back on the market.
Gottlieb, who lives in a different unit at 55 Central Park West, purchased the 12-room apartment from fashion mogul Calvin Klein for $8.6 million in the early 1990s. Klein was the last person to actually live in the apartment, after removing all the interior walls in an act of minimalism and causing a stink with the co-op board.
Since Gottlieb acquired the unit he has poured more than $5 million into renovations, with the ultimate goal of transforming the space into a three-bedroom residence with an entertainment space, large corner terrace and a conservatory.
“It is exceptional to find picture windows of this size in a prewar building,” Burger said, “and at this price point, there are buyers who want to do their own renovations and are looking for the unique clean white slate that this penthouse presents.”
But Gottlieb is simply tired of renovation and now simply wants to unload the combined No. 19-20 penthouse. According to the Times, the listing agents include John Burger of Brown Harris Stevens, and Raphael De Niro and Howard Margolis of Prudential Douglas Elliman. [NYT] —Christopher Cameron