Saturday, December 29, 2012

Anyone for a Little Weekend Floor Plan Porn?


SELLER: David and Martha Hamamoto
BUYER: Frank McCourt
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $50,000,000
SIZE: around 5,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: After a very difficult couple of days with the inner workings our our internet service—those people at Time Warner make Your Mama want to hurt somebody with our delicate and pudgy bare hands—and yesterday's slow slog through the Los Angeles residence recently acquired by Faye Resnick and her fiancée, we thought everyone might enjoy some good ol' fashioned New York City floor plan porn in the form of a 5,000 (or so) full floor Fifth Avenue aerie recently purchased for its full $50,000,000 asking price.

The seller is listed in property records and previously reported as David and Martha Hamamoto. (He's a bigwig banker with NorthStar Realty Finance Corporation.) The listed buyer as a fella named Frank McCourt who may or may not be the same Frank McCourt who purchased the L.A. Dodgers in 2004 for $430 million, ran them into bankruptcy, reluctantly sold them earlier this year for $2 billion and recently endured a very bitter, very public and ongoing separation and divorce his long-time wife Jamie.

The Thad Hayes-designed interiors—once photographed for Architectural Digest, according to listing information—are somewhat spare and certainly elegantly sedate but absolutely exquisite and— clearly—hideously expensive. The floor plan shows a fairly traditional but modernized layout with a private elevator vestibule, spacious gallery entrance, a 27-foot long park view formal living room with fireplace, and a centrally situated park view library with four pocket doors on three walls. Another pocket door in the a formal dining room—where there are some rather blue chip abstract expressionist paintings on the walls—connects through a open-plan butler's pantry to the center island kitchen with it's custom milled Shaker style cabinetry and top grade appliances.

The master suite, entered via a privacy enhancing vestibule just off the entrance gallery has a large park-view corner bedroom with fireplace, a windowed walk-in closet plus a bedroom-sized dressing room with south facing windows and a large windowed bathroom with double sinks, separate cubby for the crapper and party-sized shower.

A wide corridor shoots east off the entrance gallery and connects to an (almost) 18-foot square family room with three eastern windows and a built in wet bar. Each of the three family bedrooms open off the family room and have private windowed bathrooms.

The purchase included a separate ground floor guest/staff apartment with private exterior entrance on Fifth Avenue, living and dining areas, a compact but fully equipped open-concept kitchen and, finally, two petite bedrooms and two three-quarter bathrooms.

The downright aristocratic, 14-story limestone-clad Italian Renaissance palazzo style apartment house positively drips with a quintessentially New York City sort of moneyed elegance and offers residents full-time doorman services and basement storage cubicles but does not have an on-site garage, sundeck or health club. That lacking in extra amenities, of course, does not keep the monthly common charges low in this top flight building. For example, online documentation shows the monthlies for Mister McCourt's new digs run a gut wrenching $249,648 per year ($20,834 per month).

Some of the other ridiculously wealthy residents of the buildings include octogenarian journalist/talk show co-host Barbara Walters and banker Jay Mantz and wife Jennifer who coughed up $26,474,500 for their high floor spread in early 2008. Mister and Missus Mantz had briefly owned on a full-floor spread on a lower floor that they picked up in May 2008 for $16,840,200 and quickly flipped in January 2008 for $20,000,000 to financier turned powerhouse contemporary art dealer Robert Mnuchin and wife Adriana. Wall Street fat cat turned former New Jersey governor John Corzine's psychotherapist wife Sharon Elghanayan has owned small unit on a lower floor since late 2006 for which she shelled out $7.5 million and the once vilified but back in the saddle banker Jeffrey Verschleiser and wife Amy own a low floor unit that they snagged in March 2005 for $10,000,000.

exterior photo: Scott Bintner for Property Shark
listing photos and floor plan: Brown Harris Stevens (via StreetEasy)

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

"May or may not be the same fella" .... Haha!! Exactly how many other Frank McCourts are there who could afford a $50M co-op?!

Anonymous said...

There are three Frank McCourt's actually. And, two of them could afford this. Does that answer your question?

Anonymous said...

Do your research, hunny. There's only one who could afford this.

Petra's said...

Children, settle down. Obviously it was bought by THE Frank McCourt, but Mama likes to be completely sure about these things. Leave her alone!

Like the floor plan, and lovely building.

Wonder how Jamie feels about this purchase... while she's stuck with just $100 mill (or however much it was?) ;)

Anonymous said...

50m for that? It better have one bangin-ass view to make up for the boring interior.

Anonymous said...

Boring interior? What kinda crack have you been smoking? Have you seen some of the train wrecks that get posted here? Looks very elegant, good views, and I think that might be a Rothko in the living room.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:48 : Hope you weren't thinking of the author of "Angela's Ashes" in your count of "3 Frank McCourts" there. That one died in 2009, and despite his success, this place and its maintenance would be way out of his price range. Nor would it be his style.


Anon 2:20 : As the pictures clearly show, the apt. has "bangin'-ass views" of Central Park and the CPW skyline.

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MamasBoy said...

Thanks for the weekend treat, Mama!

MamasBoy said...

I don't know why I'm so curious, but I wonder what the interiors of the much more attainable fifth floor 2 bedroom are like. I hate it when homes don't have bathtubs, but otherwise it's pretty interesting. Also, I wonder why they put the dining area and the living area like that--I would think that the entry would be into the living area. It's a mini maisonette!

MamasBoy said...

*5th Ave

Anonymous said...

"purchased the L.A. Dodgers ... ran them into bankruptcy, reluctantly sold them earlier this year for $2 billion..."

I'm still shaking my head over how sick rich this guy became while being possibly the worst MLB owner in history.

Anonymous said...

When contemplating 944 Fifth Avenue, the Rabbi experiences an enigmatic ambivalence: Architect Nathan Korn created a cohesively fine facade with elaborate second floor lintels, smooth second to third floor pilasters, fourth floor bas relief urns, and upper floor fluted pilasters. Unfortunately, the insensitive replacements of divided light with single pane windows diminishes dimensionality, and presents a business office-appearing exterior from across the Avenue.

The original maisonettes flanking the central entrance are awkwardly configured: The north maisonette is presented by Mama; the south maisonette is an equally ill-conceived medical office.

The full floor apartments originally contained four master bedrooms with southern exposures; however, due to mid-block siting, the southern exposures below the seventh floor face the north wall of the Harkness mansion immediately adjacent.

The public rooms are elegantly spacious; nevertheless, the rear dining rooms are depressingly dark. The original five servant bedrooms and additional servant hall within each apartment are easily reconfigured, as in this successful eleventh floor redesign to a large family room and additional bedroom.

The Kinderlach may know that Korn also designed 956 Fifth Avenue, a smaller residential luxury building the Rabbi absolutely worships, for its full floor corner apartments with comparatively modest room sizes consisting of approximately 18 by 24 feet corner living rooms, 19 by 19 feet square park facing dining rooms, and 12 by 18 feet libraries just perfect for the Rabbi, thank you very much. Korn further designed a couple of ho-hummy apartment buildings, including 230 Central Park West and 6 West 77th Street.

The Rabbi appreciates the contemporary redesign by Thad Hayes of this eleventh floor apartment, opening the primary master bedroom, library, and living room via aligned pocket doors, to create a 70 foot enfilade of sightline and circulation. She would, however, cozy up the library with new Ikea bookcases, religious tomes, a Rug Doctor oriental carpet reproduction, and her circa 1950s Steelcase desk plucked from the castoffs outside Studly's civil service office building.

The Rabbi would not have predicted the relatively quick sale of this apartment at full asking price, as she is familiar with two of the lower floor 944 Fifth Avenue apartments, which turned at approximately one-half and two-fifths the price of the eleventh floor, as cited by Mama.

Finally, the Rabbi identifiably chuckled after clicking Mama's link to the designer, who in part describes his work as "Optimistic and essential.". The Rabbi also regards herself as generally optimistic. Essential, however? Clearly Mr. Hayes possesses a gezunte quantity of self esteem, and loves to self-promote almost as much as the Rabbi enjoys hearing herself sermonize!

Rabbi Professor Hedda LaCasa
Columbia College of Architects and Surgeons
Trenton NJ

Anonymous said...

This is not a top building on Fifth Ave- probably not even in the top 10- and the apt is probably closer to 4,000 square feet. The price is stunning.

Anonymous said...

I thought McCourt had lost a big % of his money. I guess the super rich in the US have unending amounts to spend on their sybaritic life style. I wonder if he is worried by the "fiscal cliff". Oh, gee, I forgot. He is so rich nothing can affect him at all. Happy life to lead while others can't even find a job.

Anonymous said...

I'm still shaking my head over how sick rich this guy became while being possibly the worst MLB owner in history.

America in its new Gilded Age has a class divorced from the rest of society by a gulf so wide it can't be fathomed. US society and its political economy is structured for these people and not for the rest who get the teeny tiny end of the stick. It's called "inequality".

Anonymous said...

Look at all these sad jealous poors in the comment section. Stop complaining about wealth and go find a job. I worked hard for my wealth and if I want to spend it and live lavishly, I have every right to do so without the judgement. Has a poor person ever employed you? Don't bite the hand that feeds you and MYOB and let me spend and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Congrats to the owner of this new home. I love it.

Anonymous said...

I thought Frank Mccourt was broke. I thought there was like a Billion dollars in debt against the Dodgers. I thought that he had to sell the Dodgers just to be able to pay his bills and pay his wife her settlement and pay off all the massive debts. I know he sold the Dodgers for $2 billion. But once you pay agent/broker fees and taxes then I am sure he wasn't left with anything near the full 2 billion. I am sure you have to use some sorta broker or whatever to broker a transaction like that and they get a fee. Then after that he had to pay his ex wife over 100 million dollars to settle the divorce. And there's the issue of all their expensive properties and the massive upkeep. Plus he may have to pay his ex wife alimony and possibly child support depending if they have any minor children. Plus he had to pay off like a billion dollars in debts I think. Unless they paid him $2 billion plus agreed to take on the debts on top of that but I am sure the deal was structured so that the debt has to be deducted from that $2 billion. I just don't see how or why he'd want to drop $50 million on an apartment at this point. I know he isn't broke anymore since he sold the Dodgers. But out of that $2 billion once you deduct the massive debts, divorce settlement, taxes, etc., he probably may have only walked away with $500 million. I know that's a lot to regular folk. But considering he already has multiple high maintenance estates and yachts and jets and alimony and etc. to pay it just would seem to me he wouldn't want to take on an additional $50 million property.

Anonymous said...

To: December 29, 2012 8:56 PM
go troll else where.

Anonymous said...

Great post Rabbi. you elegantly described what i noticed about the building on first glance re: the single pane windows make it look like an office building..

MamasBoy said...

*yawn

Anonymous said...

Stop complaining about wealth and go find a job.

Err...perhaps you are not aware of the unemployment rate. This indicates jobs are not easy to find. Perhaps you think $30,000 a year flipping hamburgers will make a person rich. Amazing the obtuseness of the "self made" rich. Recent careful research indicates most rich people are simply very very lucky. Hard work in the US these days is no guarantee of wealth.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Mccourt taking all the homes in the divorce makes/made no sense to me?? Those homes wont maintain themselves. The dodgers sold for cash and thats certainly more liquid than real estate. I like this apartment. Not a big Hayes fan, but this is nice..perhaps because it has more color than his usual designs.

Anonymous said...

11:30: so if 6:54 is rights Mrs. took of all the houses and he got away with cash, so it makes sense to buy himself a coop

re class warfare: fairy tales about selfmade men bill gates and warren buffet are just fairy tales. grandfather of first one was a big banker at beginning of 20th century and the second ones daddy owned a brokerage and was congressman for multiple terms, hence connections, connections, connections.

its impossible to become superrich if you are not already in the game, cause TPTB will take you down so they dont get competition :) i mean just ask kim dotcom, the guy the taxpayers will be paying billions of dollars in settlement money few years down the road

best

Anonymous said...

Mamass Boy
December 29, 2012 5:32 PM
*yawn

Lilithcat said...

If I were paying $50,000,000 for an apartment, I'd want significant private outdoor space.

But I do like the idea of stashing your guests several floors away.

Anonymous said...

11:17: yes you are making a point
i remember there was like a 6 months ago listing of 3 story penthouse coop for 40m opposite of metropolitan museum of art and the top floor was basicly big teraz with masterbedroom and another sitting room.

not that much floor space on 3 stories but it had great views

best

Shopgirl said...

Guy has balls as big as Texas! He burned so many people in Boston and LA that he's saddling up in the big apple now!

Anonymous said...

I love the apartment. Looks so elegant.

Anonymous said...

this certainly looks better than the typical trashy celebrity selection on real estalker. the guy sounds like a crook though.

Anonymous said...

ehh nice place but I'd say he overpaid by $15mil. This isn't a top building, and while its nicely laid out the main entertaining spaces are very small for this price. I think the pocket doors all the way through do a great job of showing off the view, but who wants a pocket door from their entertaining spaces to their master bedroom? I mean its irrelevant at this price point to complain about something so trivial, but this whole lay out makes me feel like the sellers did very little entertaining.
And to all those who are surprised about his financial situation, take note that while it initially appeared he would lose a ton of money due to dodgers sale and divorce, he ended up only needing to give her the real estate and $100mil. He didn't have to share any of the proceeds of the Dodgers sale with her, and remember he only paid around $500 mil for the dodgers and sold them for $2 billion. Even with all those taxes and all those legal fees that still leaves him with a pretty decent pile of cash.

Unknown said...

I can't believe someone paid $50 million for this apartment. Not that I think $50 million is too much to pay for an apartment, but because this apartment is really so very unimpressive. Other than being on 5th avenue (which in an increasingly downtown & Brooklyn focused world seems to be completely not nearly as in demand as it used to be anyway), what does it really have going for it? The ceilings seem low, the decor is blah, the room sizes and floorplan are both underwhelming.

There's a lot of apartments in Manhattan I could see paying $50 million for if you had the money & were so inclined, IMO this just isn't one of them. It almost makes me think someone just needed to park $50 million somewhere quick before the end of the year...

Anonymous said...

9:13 "It almost makes me think someone just needed to park $50 million somewhere quick before the end of the year..."

Hmmm. I'm thinking the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Yep to both of the above comments. I also wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't already acquired at least one more expensive property somewhere else very recently, with all the excess cash he currently has on hand and his penchant for trophy real estate.

Northern Virginia Homes For Sale said...

purchased the L.A. Dodgers ... ran them into bankruptcy, reluctantly sold them earlier this year for $2 billion..."

I'm still shaking my head over how sick rich this guy became while being possibly the worst MLB owner in history.

Anonymous said...

OMGGG DID YOU HEAR YA'LL KIM KARDASHIAN AND KANYE WEST ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Which one is pregnant?!??!!?!? Or are they both!!

Anonymous said...

Check out this new 15,500 square-foot custom built home on Belvedere Island in Marin County, CA that just sold. Listed at $45M but was auctioned off yesterday. Price paid and buyer is unknown for now. Nice indeed.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Swanky-Marin-mansion-sold-for-big-bucks-4155987.php#ixzz2GeDMN6fShttp://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Swanky-Marin-mansion-sold-for-big-bucks-4155987.php

Jayne said...

From where does that lamp on the desk get power? Batteries?

Anonymous said...

Love!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...
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