Sara Krulwich/The New York Times The Abingdon in the West Village, a six-story former nursing home, has been converted into 10 luxury condominiums. The building dates to 1906.A striking West Village triplex at the Abingdon, a 10-unit luxury condominium conversion of a six-story 1906 building on Abingdon Square Park that had been used as a nursing home, sold for $23,419,750 and was the most expensive sale of the week, according to city records. The 9,600-square-foot dwelling, No. 2, has its own entry west of the main lobby at 320 West 12th Street, at Hudson Street.
The “West Mansion,†as it is described in the offering plan, occupies a 60-by-70-foot footprint given extra volume by 13-foot ceilings and a grand staircase. The asking price was $25 million. The monthly carrying charges are $21,108.
The residence has five bedrooms, four bathrooms and two powder rooms. It also has two wood-burning fireplaces, which add a touch of Old World ambience to an otherwise thoroughly modernized home with state-of-the-art finishes and the requisite ahead-of-the-curve appliances and technical systems. The staircase opens onto a formal gallery designed with large art in mind, and there is a private 332-square-foot courtyard. The primary exposures are northern and western.
There is credible evidence that the buyer is none other than Steven A. Cohen, the owner of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors and a veteran collector of both fine art and expensive properties, including a $60 million oceanfront estate in East Hampton, a $40 million apartment at 145 Perry Street, a $30 million property in Greenwich, Conn., and a penthouse at One Beacon Court uptown that is on the market for $115 million. Mr. Cohen recently bought Picasso’s masterwork “Le Rêve†from the casino magnate Stephen A. Wynn for $150 million.
The unit was offered by 607 Hudson Street Owner, a k a Flank Development, the company responsible for the Abingdon’s conversion, and represented by Tim Crowley of Flank Brokerage. Mr. Crowley indicated that the buyer was an art collector in need of space for his collection. The broker for the buyer, identified in public records as Hudson Heights Holding, was Deborah Grubman of the Corcoran Group, Mr. Cohen’s longtime real estate adviser. Public records revealed that the Greenwich, Conn., address for Hudson Heights Holding matches Mr. Cohen’s home address there, and the buyer’s signature appears to be that of Alexandra Cohen, his wife.
In another significant transaction, an elegant 4,478-square-foot floor-through residence in a sought-after condominium conversion, 18 Gramercy Park South â€" the luxurious makeover of a Salvation Army residence for women by the high-profile team of Zeckendorf Development, Eyal Ofer Global Holdings and Robert A. M. Stern â€" sold for $15,731,962.50. It was the week’s second-most-expensive sale, and the most recent of an explosion of high-price closings at 18 Gramercy South at Irving Place. Monthly carrying costs are $12,546.10, and a $350 key to Gramercy Park was a closing gift from the developers.
The residence, No. 2, has a grand gallery, a corner living room with 40 feet of frontage on Gramercy Park, a master suite with two full marble baths, three additional bedrooms and two terraces that total 448 square feet.
The unit was represented by Zeckendorf Marketing, and Mary Fitzgibbons of Brown Harris Stevens handled the transaction for the buyer, whose identity was shielded by a limited-liability company, CNG Investment. The company’s address was given as 985 Fifth Avenue, a luxury rental owned by Spitzer Enterprises, and Eliot and Silda Spitzer’s longtime home.
Big Ticket includes closed sales from the previous week, ending Wednesday.
