It looks like BGC Partners head honcho Howard Lutnick is the mystery buyer behind of the massive triplex at the Pierre Hotel.
As The Real Deal first reported Tuesday, a buyer paid $44 million through an LLC to acquire the 12,000-square-foot penthouse at 795 Fifth Avenue. According to the New York Post, it was Lutnick and his wife Allison who bought the co-op from Barbara Zweig, the widow of financier Martin Zweig. She had previously listed the 16-room penthouse for $125 million — making it one of the city’s most expensive listings at the time.
Zweig cut the price several times over the last couple of years. When the unit failed to sell in 2015 for $63 million, she took it off the market and had the apartment redesigned. She put the triplex back on the market in April 2016 with an asking price of $57 million.
BGC Partners, which acquired Newmark Knight Frank in 2011, is gearing up to spin off the brokerage and bring it public by the end of the year. Newmark ranked 18th on TRD‘s list of the top investment sales firms. [NYP] — Kathryn Brenzel