Ben Ashkenazy lists Hamptons estate for record $125M

Manhattan-based real estate developer Ben Ashkenazy and his wife Debra are looking to make a splash in the Hamptons market. 

The couple’s 76-acre equestrian Water Mill estate is coming on the market for $125 million, making it New York’s most expensive coastal vacation listing, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The billionaire head of Ashkenazy Acquisitions reportedly paid $26.7 million to assemble the property in 2015 and 2016. The 20,000-square-foot residence, built in 2012, has eight bedrooms, nine wood burning fireplaces and hand-carved limestone and marble bathtubs, according to the listing reported by the Journal.

The property also includes Pinnacle Farm, a horse-training farm with a 16-stall barn, eleven paddocks, as well as indoor and outdoor riding arenas. 

Ashkenazy isn’t clearing out of the enclave, because he has a beachfront home in Southampton, listing broker Michael Cantwell of Bespoke Real Estate told the outlet. 

The number of sales in the area more than doubled in the second quarter from last year with the median sale at $5.7 million, according to data from real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel reported by the outlet. 

The sale comes as the developer has had some public financial troubles, including foreclosure of two Madison Avenue properties.

If the property trades for its asking price, it would beat the record held by former ad executive Marcia Riklis, who sold her eight-acre property at 700 Meadow Lane for $112.5 million last year. 

The Hamptons overall has seen a flurry of activity this summer by some other big names. 

Late financier Thomas Lee’s widow Ann Tenenbaum listed their Hamptons estate this summer for $120 million. Vornado CEO Steve Roth listed his more modest East Hampton vacation home for $20 million as a trade-in for another one down the street. And Drew Barrymore found a quick buyer for her Hamptons farmhouse in Sagaponack which was listed at $8.5 million. 

— Christina Previte

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