Bill Cosby found a buyer for his Upper East Side mansion, likely staving off foreclosure.
The 88-year-old actor’s home at 18 East 71st Street, asking $29 million, was the priciest property in Manhattan to snag an inked deal last week, according to Olshan Realty’s report. The sprawling limestone mansion topped off a total of 30 homes in the borough asking $4 million or more to enter contract, up from 25 in the previous period.
Cosby listed the 13,000-square-foot abode in September in an attempt to offload it before his lender, First Foundation Bank, foreclosed on the property. The bank initiated proceedings roughly nine months ago, claiming Cosby had defaulted on a $17.5 million loan and owed more than $300,000 in property taxes.
The disgraced former sitcom star and his wife, Camille, bought the six-story townhouse in 1987 for $6.3 million. The home, known as the Luyster Mansion and built in 1899, has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It also features an elevator and 500-square-foot rooftop terrace.
Corcoran’s Adam Schneider had the listing.
The second most expensive property to nab a signed contract was a penthouse at 895 Park Avenue, with an asking price of $21.5 million. The triplex apartment on the 16th, 17th and 18th floors hit the market in March asking just under $30 million.
The co-op spans 6,900 square feet and has four bedrooms and six bathrooms. It also features a library, staff rooms, three fireplaces and multiple terraces. It last traded for $15 million in 2009 and underwent a two-year renovation the following year.
Brown Harris Stevens’ John Burger had the listing.
The Park Avenue co-op is also home to a famed penthouse that once belonged to composer Leonard Bernstein, who in 1970, along with his wife Felicia, hosted an event for the Black Panther Party which Tom Wolfe wrote about for New York Magazine.
Of the 30 properties, 19 were condos, seven were co-ops and four were townhouses.
The homes’ combined asking price was $246 million, for an average price of $8.2 million and a median of $6.1 million. The typical home spent nearly two years on the market and was discounted 10 percent from the original listing price.
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