For $12.5 million, a seven-room apartment at perhaps the most famous residential building in New York City can be yours.
The fifth-floor unit at the Dakota, the famous co-op building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side, features treetop views of neighboring Central Park and previously belonged to beleaguered hedge fund manager Alphonse “Buddy” Fletcher Jr.
In February, a state judge ordered the Dakota’s board to cancel Fletcher’s lease, change the locks and remove his belongings so the unit could be sold to pay Fletcher’s creditors, according to Wall Street Journal.
The co-op board filed a lawsuit this week, tapping John Burger at Brown Harris Stevens to market the property. Burger told the Journal that an apartment like Fletcher’s – complete with Central Park views, working fireplaces and a library – hasn’t been available at the Dakota in more than 10 years.
Part of the proceeds from the sale would go to investors who won a $50 million judgment last year against Fletcher and his company, Fletcher Asset Management, in relation to claims they were defrauded by the hedge funder.
Inside Alphonse Fletcher Jr. apartment at The Dakota
The Dakota board is also seeking to recoup legal fees tied to a race discrimination lawsuit filed by Fletcher against the co-op in 2011 and subsequently dismissed last year.
In addition to the $12.5 million pad, two other units at the Dakota owned by Fletcher – a penthouse studio priced at $1 million and a $350,000 double staff room – are also up for sale.
Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff recently listed their five-bedroom apartment at the property for $39 million. [WSJ] – Rey Mashayekhi