From the New York Observer:
"Realizing a Dead Man’s Dream: Roman Abramovich Plans to Piece Together the Entire Berwind Mansion"
This morning, The Post reported that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was in contract to buy the late Howard Ronson’s melange of disconnected units at 828 Fifth Avenue, a.k.a. the Berwind Mansion, for $75 million.
But they neglected to mention the most important detail in the saga of
the segmented mansion—Mr. Abramovich has not only taken on Mr. Ronson’s
old apartments, but is well on his way to realizing the real estate
developer’s dream of restoring the colossal mansion to a single
residence.
Sources tell The Observer that Mr. Abramovich has agreements
to buy not only the Ronson family’s three units, but is working out
deals with the co-op’s other residents as well. Meaning that he may
finally be able to piece together the puzzle of units—a triplex, a
penthouse and a duplex maisonette—amassed by Mr. Ronson and his family.
Indeed, despite having been carved up into nine co-op units at one
time (it’s now five), the mansion is so magnificent, with its original
details almost entirely intact—including a ballroom with 17-foot-high
Louis XV ceilings—that the dream of putting the mansion back together
has seized the imagination of countless individuals. (It’s also on a
30-foot by 110-foot corner lot, filling the house with copious
quantities of sunlight—a rare townhouse amenity.) After Mr. Ronson’s
death, his family continued to scoop up square footage in the building,
buying and renovating the penthouse before giving up the ghost and
listing the assortment of apartments for $72 million with Corcoran’s Sharon Baum, Leighton Candler and Deborah Grubman, as well as Stribling’s Alexa Lambert....MORE
HT:
Real Estalker who has some more pics
