“Owning Manhattan” Tribeca Penthouse Sells to Crypto Founder

A Tribeca penthouse featured in “Owning Manhattan” finally found a buyer — and it appears to be the co-founder of a New York-based cryptocurrency company.

An LLC tied to Michael Gronager, former CEO of Chainalysis, paid $11 million for the duplex at 67 Franklin Street, according to property records. The purchase came with a $5 million mortgage.

Gronager, who abruptly stepped back from his post late last year, previously signed another public document on behalf of the purchasing entity, Cool and Perfect LLC. The company was used to buy a condo at 111 West 17th Street in Chelsea for $3.3 million in 2018.

The 3,800-square-foot home is finally trading more than a decade after sales launched at the landmarked building known as Cast Iron House. The New York Post first reported news of the signed contract earlier this month but didn’t include the identity of the buyer.

The four-bedroom penthouse last asked $12 million, down from just under $13 million when it hit the market with Ryan Serhant’s eponymous firm in 2021, according to Streeteasy. The apartment was the last remaining sponsor unit at the building, developed by Knightsbridge Properties.

The home — and its 1,500-square-foot wraparound terrace — was featured in the reality TV show following agents at Serhant’s eponymous firm, which premiered on Netflix in June. In an episode of the show, Jordan Hurt, one of the listing brokers and cast members, described the penthouse as a “Malibu Beach house in the middle of Manhattan.”

Krista Nickols, also with Serhant, represented the listing with Hurt and the firm’s founder. The listing agents did not respond to requests for comments.

A spokesperson for Gronager’s firm did not respond to a request for comment.

The mortgage document lists a Miami Beach address that once belonged to the CEO of Related Group’s multifamily division. Steve Patterson, and his wife Carly, sold the waterfront mansion at 2901 Flamingo Drive to an anonymous LLC called Flamingnet for $14.8 million in 2023. It’s now under contract with a last asking price just under $18 million, according to Zillow.

The five-bedroom home is down the street from a lot owned by disgraced broker, Tal Alexander. The former co-founder of Official Partners paid $3.1 million for 2687 Flamingo Drive in 2020.

Sources told TRD that Alexander family patriarch, spec home developer Shlomy Alexander, is quietly shopping the property, along with others owned by members of the family, while Tal and his two brothers, Oren and Alon, await their trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Gronager co-founded Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, 10 years ago, alongside Jan Møller and Jonathan Levin. The company tracks cryptocurrency transactions and “has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases.”

Gronager took a sudden leave of absence from the firm in October in a move the company described only as “temporary.” His departure came a year after Chainalysis laid off 15 percent of its staff.