Maybe Michael Shvo’s Basquiats were taking up too much room?
The developer just bought a two-bedroom apartment on the 68th floor of the Time Warner Center for $7.5 million, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday. Shvo already owns a three-bedroom pad on the same floor, which he bought in 2006 for $6.5 million.
The two-bedroom pad last traded in 2004 for $2.4 million to New Men Associates LLC, records show.
The 80-story Time Warner Center at 25 Columbus Circle, developed by the Related Companies, was completed in 2003. The property made headlines last year as part of a New York Times’ investigation into foreign buyers who cloak their identities through LLCs. (The Treasury Dept. announced Wednesday that it would begin tracking buyers of $3 million-plus pads.)
Shvo, a former top broker, is currently developing several luxury apartment buildings in Manhattan, including 125 Greenwich Street in the Financial District and 100 Varick Street in Soho. He’s also one of the buyers of the office portion of the Crown Building and is in contract to buy the office component of 685 Fifth Avenue. The developer comes off a four-year hiatus following the 2008 financial crash, which he said he spent building an art collection. He told The Real Deal in 2014 that he owns works by Warhol, Basquiat and Calder.