What would the South Bronx think? Somerset Partners’ Keith Rubenstein, whose “Piano District” project in Mott Haven unleashed a torrent of criticism, has put his opulent Upper East Side manse on the market for $84.5 million — one of the city’s priciest townhouse listings ever.
The six-bedroom, 14-bathroom, 15,000-square-foot, six-level Beaux-arts mansion at 8 East 62nd Street boasts walls upholstered in red Hermes leather, temperature-controlled storage for furs and handmade-marquetry dining room floors inspired by a St. Petersburg palace, as well as 2,500 square feet of outdoor space.
The Rubensteins bought the home in 2007 for $35 million, and he told the Wall Street Journal that he and wife Inga spent several years extensively renovating it. If it sells for listing price, it would be a Manhattan townhouse record, besting the Harkness Mansion’s $53 million sale in 2006.
The Rubenstein manse is near the Safra Mansion at 12-16 East 62nd Street, an assemblage of townhouses on the market for $120 million. Another potential challenger is Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim’s 1009 Fifth Avenue, listed for $80 million last year.
Adam Modlin is the listing agent.
Rubenstein told the Journal that the couple will soon be empty-nesters and are considering moving downtown.
Rubenstein took heat last fall when he and development partner the Chetrit Group renamed a strip in Mott Haven the “Piano District,” and threw a party at a warehouse complete with bullet-pocked cars and fiery trash cans. [WSJ] — Dusica Sue Malesevic