The Apthorp, the grand Upper West Side apartment building where until recently Nora Ephron paid $2,000 per month for an eight-room apartment, has sold again, this time to Africa-Israel Investments Ltd., a company owned by diamond mogul Lev Leviev. The firm shelled out about $430 million for a 50% stake in the 163-unit building with plans to take it condo, pronto. Per the WSJ's Ryan Chittum, "After factoring in the retail space on the ground floor, the purchase price comes to about $2.4 million per apartment -- the most ever paid for a residential building in the U.S."
The condoization of the Apthorp won't happen overnight, though—more than half of the apartments in the building remain rent-stabilized. Rumor has it that tough Ratner-like tenant eviction moves are being considering, including round-the-clock screenings of You've Got Mail in the building courtyard.
· Posh New York Apartments Will Become Condominiums [Wall Street Journal]
· Africa-Israel Buys Into Historic New York Building [Globes Online]
· Nora Ephron's Love Affair With the Apthorp [Curbed]