An 18-room duplex in the richest, fanciest apartment building in the worldowned by the government of France, no less, and used as the ambassador to the UN's residencereportedly just sold for $70 million. That's a whopping $22M over the 740 Park Avenue apartment's initial ask of $48 million. Apparently, three prospective buyers pushed the price up in a bidding war. France bought the apartment in 1979 for $600,000, but whatever, because that's like $1,959,272.73 in today's dollars. So just a 3,400 percent profit for the nation's coffers, no big deal.
Paris Match has news of the sale en francais (merci, Google Translate), revealing that the buyer is billionaire Israel "Izzy" Englander, a hedge funder who already lives in the building and requires a "pied-a-terre" for when his children and grandkids come to town. (They'll definitely appreciate the expansive Rosario Candela floorplan porn, right?) Guess the presumed inside job of a jewelry heist last year, in which Englander and his wife lost a $7,500 Vacheron Constantin gold watch, didn't deter him. Despite already being a 740 Park owner, Englander hasn't yet officially passed the co-op board's muster, which is pretty funny.
Englander actually lives on the 14th floor, one level above his newly acquired 12th/13th floor duplex, so if the guest-apartment plan doesn't work out... Triplex, anyone?
Important note: the deal hasn't hit public record yet, but if it goes through, then it would tie the record for most expensive co-op sale ever, which was set a mere 11 days ago when Egypt's richest man Nassef Sawiris shelled out $70M for billionaire Edgar Bronfman, Sr.'s 960 Fifth Avenue penthouse.
· 70 Million for the Duplex of the French Ambassador [Paris Match]
· Israel Englander [Forbes]
· Can't Hold A Candela To France [Curbed]
· Who Listed This Candela-Built $48M Pad at 740 Park Better? [Curbed]
· Egypt's Richest Man Buys NYC's Most Expensive Co-op Ever [Curbed]
· All 740 Park coverage [Curbed]
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