Former New York Mayor's Mansion Wants Record-Setting $40M

There are Brooklyn townhouses, and then there's the 17,500-square-foot mansion on Pierrepont Place. Located right along the Brooklyn Heights promenade, it just hit the market asking a hair-raising $40 million. The WSJ first reported Corcoran townhouse guru Vicki Negron's blockbuster listing. Called the Low Mansion, it was completed in 1857. The original owner, A. A. Low, was a businessman, and his son Seth was the mayor of Brooklyn when its eponymous bridge opened in 1883, and became mayor of the whole city in 1902. The younger Low was also president of Columbia, and the powerful father-son duo truly defined early Brooklyn Heights history (as well as real estate). When it lists, the home will oust the current record-holder for most expensive Brooklyn property: a $32 million penthouse, not far away at One Brooklyn Bridge Park. Consider the priciest parcels of Brooklyn real estate—this blows them out of the water.

The new owner, by the way, will have combine what's currently configured as eight apartments leased to tenants with short-term agreements, so the place can be delivered vacant and returned to trophy mega-home it once was.

As per the Journal:

In total there are 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and more than 9,000 square feet of garden and outdoor space. The building is currently subdivided into eight apartments, but the tenants are on short-term leases and the house can be sold vacant, according to the current owner, Jeff Keil. The building retains many of its historic features, including fireplaces with stone surrounds, high ceilings and a grand staircase with a central skylight. Keil bought the place for $2.3 million in 1991. He's a retired banker, but perhaps this will prove his best investment yet. Then again, the most expensive sale Brooklyn's ever seen was also in Brooklyn Heights—it was Truman Capote's old home, which sold for $12 million in 2012.
· Listing: 3 Pierrepont Place [Corcoran]
· Brooklyn's Most Expensive Listing: $40 Million Brownstone [WSJ]
· This $32M Penthouse Is Brooklyn's Most Expensive Home [Curbed]
· Truman Capote's Heights House Sells for Borough Record [Curbed]