Park Places! Lehman COO Sells His for $4.4 M., Ex-Bear Asking $12 M. Farther Up
MORE Manhattan Transfers
The gory fallout from the mortgage crisis is more nightmarish in Middle America—where there are “Foreclosures R Us!” ads (with actual exclamation points) in some local real estate sales pamphlets—but be sure to pity Park Avenue, too.
Earlier this month, The Observer pointed out that four Lehman Brothers executives had spent, before their firm’s fall, a combined $46.58 million on spreads in one Manhattan building alone. Besides the fact that the city suddenly has a lot less super-rich home buyers to snatch super-expensive real estate, there’s the question of what will happen to the marble-floored mega-apartments that all our freshly fallen executives bought at their peaks.
Mark Goldstein, a veteran Bear Stearns leveraged finance banker who became the co-head of its European investment banking last year, spent $5,275,000 in 2006 to buy two apartments (one was sold by the parents of star Harvard law professor Noah Feldman, incidentally), plus a connecting hallway, at 1000 Park Avenue.
It’s the kind of building that sends out memos about weight limits for tenants’ dogs; at least two ladies there are said to have inspired the evilly Lilly-Pulitzer-ed “Mrs. X” housewife in The Nanny Diaries, whose co-author once lived in the building with her parents. A neighbor sighed to The Times in 2002, “And now we learn one of our residents was a snitch.”
Mr. Goldstein is asking $12 million for his 10-room apartment in the building, more than twice what he paid. But according to the Corcoran listing, his renovation work was pricey: The living room and dining room were combined into one long entertaining space off the marble foyer; then there are four bedrooms; a kitchen with double Sub-Zeros, two dishwashers, a gas and an electric oven; a marble foyer; and a maid’s room.
Mr. Goldstein could not be reached on deadline through his broker.
A few blocks down the avenue at 610 Park (left), home to Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant, Lehman’s ousted president and chief operating officer Joseph M. Gregory has already sold his place. According to city records, Mr. Gregory, who was saddled with blame for the firm’s hefty mortgage bets when he lost his top job in June, bought the two-bedroom apartment for $2.85 million back in 2004, and sold it earlier this month for $4.4 million.
That’s only $50,000 less than his asking price, which suggests that the city’s fallen financiers won’t be suffering too awfully. On the other hand, Mr. Gregory still has to sell his Bridgehampton estate, reportedly on the market for $32.5 million. He didn’t return calls to a house in Lloyd Harbor.
mabelson@observer.com
408 East 79th Street
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My father held $76,000 in Lehman Bros.
holding bonds. He is 96+ years old.
This amount represented 50% of his
assets.
His loss is small when you look at
Lehman Bros. as a whole.
The distribution of wealth in the U.S.
makes socialism a target of interest.
And the Bush administration and Hank Paulson are asking for taxpayers' money to keep these very same guys filthy rich? I vote NO! for the bailout plan. Have Buffett and the billionaires of the world inlcuding the Arab sheiks invest in America, but please please do not use taxpayers' money! If America falls apart, then ask these guys to return the millions of money they did not deserve!
your father should have been diversified.
This is the type of extravagance that was acceptable to the stockholders. The stockholders could have stopped this but did not want to rock the boat while they were doing well. The executives of these companies spent in excess while the money was rolling in and no one cared. All the employees of these companies were happy with their annual bonus. They were not wanting change. Now only the executives will come out smelling like a rose - the rest of the world will pay! I do not think the 700 billion dollar plan is acceptable. Americans are going to suffer even if this plan is passed. And to top it off, more money will probably be needed very soon before this situation can be stabilized!
The worst is yet to come and there is little (if anything) we can do about it now!
Vote Incumbents Out! The two party system is not working anymore.
Now that all the people who created the problem have all been fired with fat pocket. They dont care if the bill can be passed. But you care...
Actually, I do care! Something needs to be done but I do not believe this is the correct solution. Since our problem effects many other countries, we HAVE to fix it. I believe that Congress is trying a quick fix to maintain some sort of strength in America. But the damage is done! The greed of our society has shattered the confidence in America! We are a society of excess. Only fixing this will begin to rebuild some of that confidence that has been lost. Not attempting to fix it would be devastating for America.
Who are you voting for President?