Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times The sale of a floor-through apartment at 18 Gramercy Park South comes on the heels of two other sales there; several more units are in contract.Three is a charm for the collaboration of Zeckendorf Development and its go-to architect, Robert A.M. Stern, at 18 Gramercy Park South. As a sequel to the jaw-dropping sales they logged by building the billionaire magnet 15 Central Park West, this smaller-scale but equally park-centric luxury condominium represents their first crack at refurbishing a landmark in a fussy historic district, and their third closing of the mo nth again netted the most expensive sale of the week, according to city records. Several more of the 16 homes there are in contract.
This time the floor-through residence was No. 11 (the previous sales were Nos. 9 and 5). The cost was precisely $17,539,356.25 - the original asking price of $17,225,000 plus transfer taxes. And the closing gift from the sponsor was the usual $350 key that opens the locked gates of Gramercy Park, Manhattan's only truly private park.
The key to No. 11 will unlock a turnkey residence in the 18-story Georgian Revival building; the unit provides 4,207 square feet of prewar charm and modern amenities. It has 40 feet of park fr ontage - and 134 feet overlooking historic Irving Place - as well as 34 windows and 4 exposures. The northward views from the living room extend across the green canopy of the park to the Chrysler Building, and in another signature feature throughout 18 Gramercy Park South, all of the windowsills are marble. The monthly carrying charges are $11,225.26.
A private elevator landing opens into a foyer connected to the 7-foot-by-15-foot windowed gallery; the eat-in kitchen has a center island, hand-painted Smallbone of Devizes cabinetry, Lefroy Brooks fittings, and bianco perlino marble countertops and backsplashes. The kitchen is adjacent to the family room to encourage mealtime socializing.
There are four bedrooms, all with en-suite baths, and a powder room is lined in black onyx. The 27-foot-by-14-foot master bedroom has his-and-hers windowed baths, a Gris Souris marble slab shower, a Calacatta caldia marble slab steam shower, and a free-standing cast-iron soaking tub.
Zeckendorf Marketing handled the sale. The buyer, using a rustic limited-liability-company moniker, Sky View Ranch, and a law firm address in Warren, N.J., was represented by Stan Ponte and Randall Gianopulos of Sotheby's International Realty.
Farther downtown, in TriBeCa, a sophisticated penthouse at the Hubert, a 2003 Art Deco condo at 7 Hubert Street, was the week's runner-up, at $15.6 million. Unlike its neighbor, PHC, notable for having its own private jogging trail, PHB maximizes its 4,200 square feet of loft-style indoor space with a Bulthaup kitchen and a living/entertainment area with a bronze-clad wood-burning fireplace. The unit has three bedrooms, three baths and a powder room, as well as prime views of the downtown cityscape; the asking price was $17.5 million, with monthly carrying costs of $8,643.
The sellers, Washington and Laurie Druker, were represented by Raphael De Niro of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The buyer, based in Rowayton, C onn., used a limited-liability company, JLM Hubert Street, in the transaction.
The week's most epic closing was celebrated, or more likely suffered through, by the actress Mary-Louise Parker, who finally sold her rambling 10-room duplex at 32 Washington Square West, a 1925 15-story co-op on the northwest corner of Washington Square Park, for $7.45 million. This spring, after two unproductive years on and off the market, the apartment, No. 14W, was accorded a new broker, underwent a spruce-up session, had its asking price reduced to $6.99 million, and suddenly became the locus of a bidding war so fierce it could have been scripted for the Broadway stage Ms. Parker frequents. The duplex, which has five bedrooms, four and a half baths, beamed ceilings and two fireplaces, sold in a week.
The first couple to tour it after its minor face-lift, Charles O'Kelley and Elizabeth Rovere, were enchanted and made an offer, but so did the next house hunters, and the next. Ulti mately Mr. O'Kelley, the chief executive of AppNexus, and Ms. Rovere, a clinical psychologist, upped the ante and proffered the winning bid. They were homesick for the West Village after selling their penthouse there last year to follow the stampede of Manhattanites to Brooklyn. They had paid $7.3 million for a modern town house at 40 Willow Street, which at the time was the highest assessed single-family home in Brooklyn Heights. Although it is against the vogue, they have now sold the house and are departing Brooklyn for Manhattan.
“The whole thing was like a fairy tale, with both the buyers and the seller just delighted by the outcome,†said Laura Rozos, the Corcoran Group broker who took over Ms. Parker's listing in March after it had failed to sell at prices ranging between $7 million and almost $8 million. The monthly maintenance is $6,623.
“It really is the quintessential Manhattan apartment in a beautiful location,†Ms. Rozos said, “and its owne r was understandably exasperated by the time I came into the picture.†The buyers were represented by Deborah Rieders, also from Corcoran.
Big Ticket includes closed sales from the previous week, ending Wednesday.
