The Metropolitan Museum of Art has reached a deal to sell two townhouses on East 82nd Street on the Upper East Side. The properties, which were last listed for $28 million, were the most expensive among 25 Manhattan homes priced at $4 million or more that found buyers last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. This figure is down from 29 such contracts in the previous week.
The buyer signed the contract just 16 days after the properties, located at 6-8 East 82nd Street, were listed. The buyer reportedly agreed to pay above the asking price after a bidding war and plans to combine the two townhouses into a single-family home. The combined residence will be 41 feet wide and cover 12,600 square feet.
The Metropolitan Museum has owned these Gilded Age mansions for nearly half a century. One of the homes, No. 8, was previously owned by George Schaefer, a brewing industry figure who bought it in 1890. The Schaefer family began brewing beer in Brooklyn in the 1840s.
Corcoran agents Carrie Chiang and Andres Perea-Garzon represented the listing.
The second highest-priced home to go under contract was a condominium at 111 West 57th Street, developed by JDS Development and Property Markets Group. Unit 54 was last listed for $21 million, reduced from nearly $27 million when sales began nine years ago. The condo is 4,200 square feet with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, 14-foot ceilings, and views of Central Park. Building amenities include a fitness center, pool, terrace, and private dining room.
Of the building’s 60 units, 49 have closed sales with an average price of $4,500 per square foot. Unit 54 is the twelfth unit from the building to be among the top two contracts in weekly reports this year. The Nikki Field Team with Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing.
Among the 25 properties that went into contract last week, there were 16 condos, six co-ops, and three townhouses. Their combined asking price totaled $217 million, with an average price of $8.7 million and a median price of $6.5 million. Most homes spent over a year and a half on the market and were discounted by about nine percent from their original listing price.
