It looks like nobody wants a cabinet owned by Wilbur Ross.
Ross — whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for Secretary of Commerce in his Cabinet — listed his penthouse at the Briarcliff at 171 West 57th Street for $21 million last year, the New York Post reported. In January, he dropped the price to $18.5 million, but apparently to no avail. It has now been on the market for 415 days, according to StreetEasy.
The four bedroom, five full bathroom apartment spans 5,573 square feet. Designed by interior decorator Mario Buatta, it features two wood-burning fireplaces. There’s a “cozy” library, a dining room that seats 30 people and an irrigated and planted terrace, according to the listing.
Ross bought the penthouse from Andrew Farkas of Island Capital Group for $18 million in 2007. Just this week Farkas found a buyer for his Upper East Side townhouse, six months after listing the home for $42.5 million.
But in real estate patience can pay off, as Ross well knows. The billionaire was rejected by the co-op board of the River House, an Art Deco building off the East River on 52nd Street, in the 1990s. Late last year, he got the last laugh and paid $7.8 million for an apartment in the building. [NYP] — Miriam Hall