At the Dakota, combo pad that could 'revive lost grandeur' seeks $20.5M

Two apartments at the Upper West Side’s famed Dakota could return to their original combined state, if their owners have their way—and if they can find a buyer willing to scoop up both units for a combined $20.5 million.

The owners of the units, Virginia Dawn and John Rydzewski, have been next-door neighbors for some time, but have only now decided to team up to sell their apartments. Dawn listed her unit, a three-bedroom with Central Park views, earlier this month for $12.5 million; but according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the sale, the neighbors are hoping to woo a buyer looking to “revive some long-lost grandeur” in the aging co-op.

As the WSJ explains, many of the units within the building are markedly different from the original vision of architect Henry Hardenberg; over time, its 65 gracious apartments were subdivided into 85 smaller, slightly less gracious units. (Three of the originally laid-out apartments remain, one of which is owned by Yoko Ono.)

Courtesy Stribling

In theory, offering a well-to-do buyer the opportunity to get one of those original layouts back could be appealing. “Sometimes, one plus one can equal 2½,” Jonathan Miller, real-estate appraisal expert, told the WSJ.

If the two units do sell together, they could be combined into a whopping 4,800-square-foot pad that would have 100 feet of Central Park frontage, high ceilings, five bedrooms, a library, and that all-important grandeur.

Dawn’s apartment is still on the market for $12.5 million with Stribling’s Sharon Walker Flynn; Brown Harris Stevens’s John Burger will have the listing for the combo pad.

Update: The listing is live! More photos + a floorplan below:

• Wanted: Buyer to Restore Some Grandeur to Manhattan’s Dakota Building [WSJ]
• Listing: 1 West 72nd Street #32 [Stribling]
• In the Dakota, a co-op facing Central Park lists for the first time in 50 years [Curbed]