A $20 million price reduction apparently did the trick.
The penthouse at The Plaza in Manhattan, owned by British billionaire Christian Candy and last listed for $39.5 million, went into contract Tuesday after lingering on the market for two years, according to listing records.
The transaction hasn’t been registered with property records yet, so the final sale price and the buyer can’t be identified.
When Mr. Candy, 42, first put the triplex on the market in 2013, he asked $59 million, more than double what he had paid in $25.9 million in the prior year.
He later lowered the price and switched brokers. The last listing in early April, with the $39.5 million price tag, was handled by the team of Elizabeth L. Sample and Brenda S. Powers at Sotheby’s International Realty.
Mr. Candy and his brother Nick, with a combined net worth of £1.5 billion (US$1.92 billion) by Estates Gazette’s estimate, are the developers behind London’s One Hyde Park.
Listing agents, as well as Mr. Candy, didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment.
Demi Moore has finally offloaded her 17-room Central Park penthouse...but only after a $30M discount https://t.co/aKeGeih0un pic.twitter.com/8LRWIOQPqh
— Mansion Global (@MansionGlobal) April 21, 2017
The unit was once entangled in a lawsuit between a former buyer, Russian hedge fund manager and former deputy finance minister Andrei Vavilov, and the developers of the Plaza Hotel.
Mr. Vavilov bought the triplex apartment off its floor plan for $39.5 million in 2007. After the historic Plaza Hotel reopened—mostly as condos—in 2008 after a three-year renovation, he saw the finished apartment and decided that "the design and construction of the apartments were not in accordance with the representations" made to him, according to court papers.
In 2012, Mr. Candy, bought the property for $25.9 million, according to public records.
The new owner or owners will be able to enjoy a 6,200-square-foot townhouse-style residence on the top three floors of The Plaza Hotel, featuring four bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, with views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.
The entertaining level features a living room, a formal dining room, an eat-in kitchen, a media room with a gas fireplace and an office. Upstairs, the master suite occupies an entire floor, featuring a terrace overlooking Central Park, a sitting area and two bathrooms. Downstairs from the main entertaining level, there are three bedrooms with three full en-suite bathrooms.
The building’s five-star hotel amenities include room service from the Todd English Food Hall, The Palm Court and The Rose Club.