Financier James Coulter Buys UES co-op for $36M

An Upper East Side co-op just snagged a billionaire buyer.

A trust tied to private equity executive James Coulter and his wife, Phyllis, paid $36 million for a five-bedroom apartment at 2 East 67th Street, according to public records. The seller is an anonymous LLC registered in Delaware.

Unit No. 9 landed a signed contract in April, with an asking price of $44.5 million. If it had traded for that price, the apartment would have been the most expensive co-op in Manhattan to sell in nearly two years. The unit initially asked $49 million when it hit the market in May 2022.

The apartment last traded for $26 million in 2007 and has since undergone a renovation. It also features a private elevator landing, corner living room with views of Central Park and a wood-paneled library.

Amenities in the Rosario Candela-designed building include doormen, porters, wine cellar storage and a fitness center.

Sotheny’s International Realty’s Serena Boardman, the listing agent, did not respond to a request for comment.

Coulter is a co-founder of TPG, the private equity firm initialy known for its takeover of Continental Airlines in 1993. While at TPG, Coulter has had his hand in the firm’s investments in Burger King, Ducati Motor Holding, J. Crew and Del Monte Foods.

Known as one of Manhattan’s most exclusive co-ops, 2 East 67th Street has a history of laying out high hoops for its buyers to jump through, The Real Deal reported in 2011. At the time, the co-op board had the usual Fifth Avenue financial requirements, including enough cash on hand to pay a hefty monthly maintenance and a few luxury assets to boot, with the added track record of donating to philanthropic causes.

“This building is sort of impossible to get in, not only for you and me, but for rich people as well,” author Michael Gross told TRD.

But many wealthy Manhattanites have managed to earn the board’s approval. The 12-story limestone building, built in 1928, has been home to a number of prominent buyers, including investor and real estate developer David Winter, who bought a third-floor unit for $30 million in 2017.

Eduardo Safra, heir to his family’s banking fortune, bought adjacent apartments on the fourth floor of the limestone building for $18 million total in 2010, and investment banker and publisher Arthur Carter was once on the building’s board.