Israel Englander, founder of the hedge fund Millennium Management, closed on the purchase of a duplex co-op at 740 Park Avenue for $71.3 million, smashing the record for co-op prices in Manhattan.
The government of France unloaded the 18-room, six-bedroom unit, which hit the market for $48 million in April. Brown Harris Stevens broker John Burger told Bloomberg News that the listing led to a bidding war among prospective buyers.
Englander owns an apartment on the 14th floor, and his new duplex is on both the 12th and 13th floors.
Englander’s purchase surpassed the co-op record set by the $70 million sale of the late Edgar Bronfman Sr.’s home at 960 Fifth Avenue, as The Real Deal reported in June. [Bloomberg News] — Mark Maurer