Roman Abramovich moves forward with UES megamansion construction

Roman Abramovich is moving ahead with creating his Upper East Side Frankenhome, as the the New York Post reports construction activity at the site.

Abramovich started seeking approvals from the city for the three-townhouse megamansion at 11-15 East 75th Street in March 2016, followed by a trip to the Landmarks Preservation Commission that April that ended in disapproval. Abramovich finally won the go-ahead of the landmark district’s governing body in June of that year over architect Stephen Wang + Associates revised treatment of the townhouses’ facades.

Abramovich added a fourth townhouse on the block—No. 9—to his assemblage in October 2017, and has since reconfigured the megamansion with Wang; now, it will include Nos. 9, 11, and 13, with No. 15 officially dropped from the design. That revised plan was approved by the LPC in November 2017, a few months after Abramovich announced his amicable separation with third wife Dasha Zhukova.

“I have no idea if anyone will ever live there, but Abramovich is putting the townhouses together. Construction is underway,” a real estate source tells the Post.

The new plan approved by the LPC includes taking down the existing facade on No. 9 (currently nondescript red brick) and replacing it with one that matches what’s going in place next door at No. 11. That building’s exterior is being restored to a nicer version of its existing Neo-Federal style. Other details on No. 9, including the front door and the window frames, will mirror the ones at No. 11.

The rear facade, meanwhile, will be incorporated using the existing plans, which call for unifying the three townhouses with a glass and bronze curtain wall.

Other proposed elements of the megamansion—the pool, the “art room,” the landscaped backyard, and the like—remain the same, though have been shifted to accommodate the change in location.

Former LPC chair Meenakshi Srinivasan praised the new exterior design as “very respectful to the district overall.”

• Roman Abramovich proceeds with NYC townhouse construction [NY Post]
• New design for Roman Abramovich’s UES megamansion gets LPC approval [Curbed]
• Russian billionaire’s Upper East Side megamansion-to-be switches things up [Curbed]