A three-bedroom stitched together from three separate apartments at the Trump Park Avenue at 502 Park Avenue has come on the market asking a whopping $25 million, according to StreetEasy.
Together, the current owners paid only about $7.71 million for units C, D and E on the 15th floor, two of which last traded hands at the height of the market, in 2006, and the last of which sold earlier this year. Salvatore and Valerie Fichera own one of the units, No. E, which they bought in 2006 for a mere $1.63 million, according to public records. The two other units that comprise the combination are owned by an entity called Park Real Estate LLC, which bought No. D that same year for $3.8 million, and unit No. C this past April for $2.28 million, city records show.
Despite the different owners, the pad is being listed with Emilie O’Sullivan and Kathy Slattery of the Corcoran Group as a three-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom apartment. But is the total worth more than the sum of its parts?
Of course, larger apartments are in demand.
“There has long been a premium for larger contiguous space in Manhattan,” said Jonathan Miller, head of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Sometimes “one plus one equals 2.5,” because there is a premium on a price per square foot basis when adjacent apartments are connected, even before they are renovated, Miller said.
And while $25 million might seem steep for a three-bedroom on its face, the number of bedrooms is less important to many buyers than other factors, said Michael Graves, a top broker with CORE who has sold many high-priced Manhattan properties of late.
“When you get to the uber high end, square footage, views and outdoor space become more important than the extra bedrooms,” said Graves, who is not familiar with the unit in question.
Many buyers at that level are bachelors who have no need for numerous bedrooms or small families who value their privacy and would rather buy a second, one- or two-bedroom unit for their staff, often on another floor, Graves said.
The rather sparsely worded listing does not mention outdoor space, but boasts of views of Park Avenue from every window and “two master bedroom suites, a generous size third bedroom and a potential fourth bedroom.”
Still, only time will tell. A $25 million three-bedroom sale would be par for the course at, say, hype magnet One57, Graves noted. It remains to be seen if a resale will command the same rates.
The average sale price per square foot for three-bedrooms in the Trump Park Avenue between 2004 and 2013 (only eight sales occurred in this period) was only $1,894 per square foot, according to data from CityRealty. Unit No. 15CDE, meanwhile, is asking $7,959 per square foot.
Neither O’Sullivan nor Slattery returned calls or emails for comment.