Banker buys 109 East 79th Street penthouse for $25M

PH19 at Legion Investment Group’s project last asked $26M

Joseph Rallo and 109 East 79th Street (Getty, Google Maps, LinkedIn/Joseph T. Rallo)
Joseph Rallo and 109 East 79th Street (Getty, Google Maps, LinkedIn/Joseph T. Rallo)

Investment banking executive Joseph Rallo and his wife Ashley are headed for 109 East 79th Street. 

The co-founder of EF Hutton purchased a 5,600-square-foot penthouse at the Upper East Side development for $25.2 million, or $4,500 per square foot, according to property records.

The 19th-floor penthouse had an asking price of $25.9 million. The unit has five bedrooms and five bathrooms and features 10-foot ceilings, a library, private keyed entry and a terrace overlooking 79th Street and Midtown Manhattan. 

The 19-story, 31-residence building served as Legion Investment Group’s breakout project in Manhattan, following owner Victor Sigoura’s 2016 departure from Naftali Group. The boutique building has only one unit left on the market, a fifth-floor condo asking $6 million. Legion completed construction last year, and residents began moving in in December. 

Sales launched at the development in November 2020, and its condos have since topped weekly reports on the priciest contracts in the borough. The most expensive contract at the building is its crown penthouse with an asking price of $35 million. 

The development also closed two notable sales earlier this year, including a $30 million penthouse and another $25.5 million unit. 

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The building’s amenities include a fitness center with a squash court and yoga studio, spa with treatment rooms, sauna and golf simulator. 

Corcoran’s Cathy Franklin heads on-site sales at the property. 

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The Upper East Side building has been popular among other finance and investment professionals, including buyers with ties to Gilder Gagnon Howe, JPMorgan Chase, Pinnacle Capital Group and Aegis Capital. 

Rallo previously served as the managing director and co-head of investment banking at Aegis Capital. In 2020, he co-founded EF Hutton, a revival of the once-popular investment banking firm with the same name known in the 1980s for its slogan, “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.”