William P. Lauder, executive chairman of the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder Cos. and grandson of the company’s founder, has purchased a five-bedroom apartment overlooking The Metropolitan Museum of Art for $23.5 million.
The seller of the apartment in one of the most prestigious Manhattan co-ops, at Fifth Avenue across 81st Street, is the estate of late Donald P. Stanton, founder of chemical shipping company Trammo Inc. public records show. Mr. Stanton passed away last September at age 88.
More:Not All $65-Million Manhattan Penthouses Are Made the Same
The sale closed at the end of last month.
Mr. Lauder, 57, who has a net worth of $1.44 billion according to Forbes’s estimate, also owns an apartment in a Rosario Candela-designed building on Fifth Avenue, a few blocks away from the company’s headquarters. He bought that one for $27.5 million in 2007, per public records. The apartment he just bought has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, with a master bedroom, living room, a library and dining room facing the museum, according to the listing with Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s International Realty.
More:Manhattan’s Luxury Market Slump Continues into 11th Week
Ms. Boardman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The apartment was first listed in November 2016 for $29 million and the price dropped to $27 million earlier this year.
The Italian Renaissance-style palazzo building was the first luxury co-operative apartment building on New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue. It was built in 1910 by James T. Lee, former first lady Jacqueline Onassis’s maternal grandfather, and designed by McKim, Mead and White.
Cathy Franklin from Corcoran Group represented Mr. Lauder."The view of the Metropolitan Museum is what’s so attractive, combined with the elegance of the space, and the fact that McKim, Mead & White designed the building in 1912," she said.
Mr. Lauder didn'tresponded to a request for comment.
LLNYC first reported the transaction.