Upper East Side Townhouse Sells For Rare Loss

The Upper East Side is full of thrift stores flipping Gucci loafers for 25 percent off, but the same isn’t true for the neighborhood’s townhouse stock.

Such was the case in the sale of 45 East 74th Street, the 9,000-square-foot property that closed this week for $20 million to an unknown buyer — $6 million less than it sold for in 2013.

How unusual is that? An analysis of TRD Data shows that among the 12 townhouse sales recorded in the neighbohorhood for at least $20 million in the last two years, the latest deal is the only one to not beat its previous sale price.

Many of those deals added $10 million or more to their earlier sale prices.

Take 18 East 73rd Street, the 10,000-square-foot townhouse that traded for $38 million this year, nearly doubling its sale price from 2013 — a similar time frame for the sale of 45 East 74th.

While comparing townhouses can be like comparing snowflakes, 45 East 74th Street stands as an outlier.

Italian developer Valerio Morabito bought the property at 45 East 74th for $10 million in 2009 and enlisted architect Joseph Pell Lombardi on a nearly complete rebuild of the property.

Morabito sunk $10 million into the renovation, outfitting the five-bedroom townhouse with what at the time was deemed the Upper East Side’s “best townhouse pool.” The project was Morabito’s first in New York, and outside of a condo conversion in Soho, he has mostly shifted his focus to Miami in recent years.

After initially listing the property for $33 million in 2012, he cut the asking price to $30 million before closing for $26 million in October 2013.

Morabito sold the property to Chinese businesswoman Zhang Xin, founder of development firm SOHO China.

The home’s pearly-white limestone facade cuts a stark image next to the older brownstone and brick buildings on the block between Park and Madison avenues.

Opinions are split among those in the neighborhood’s townhouse scene on how a relatively new townhouse on a sought-after block couldn’t garner more interest.

Brown Harris Stevens’ Paula Del Nunzio, who represented Xin for the purchase, said that it was “surprising to see it go for such a low price.”

“The house was in very good condition, but not mint,” Leslie J. Garfield’s Matt Lesser said. “Most of the clientele I toured through this home felt it was a bit tired and would require a cosmetic facelift.”

Corcoran’s Jason Karadus, who had the listing while at Town Residential, doubled down on the original $26 million price.

“We got a good number from the wealthiest woman in China,” Karadus said. “It’s worth what somebody will pay for it.”