Chinese HNA Group has flipped a historic New York City townhouse for a record-setting $90 million—$10.5 million more than the firm paid in April.
The multi-sector Hainan-based company sold the Gilded Age limestone mansion in early February, according to a deed signed by HNA Group co-founder Guoqing Chen and filed with the city on Wednesday. The sale comes less than a year since HNA Group bought thebuildingfrom the Wildensteins, a family of billionaire art dealers, for $79.5 million. An email sent HNA Group was not immediately returned.
More:Sales of Homes Over $5 Million Plunged in New York City at End of 2017
The more than 20,000-square-foot mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer on East 64th Street served as the Wildenstein art gallery for 85 years.
Meanwhile, the latest buyer tightly shielded their identity behind a shell company, which is listed in records only as East 64th Street Property Holdings and linked only to a registered agent service in Delaware.
But the super-secretive buyer is reportedly Ukrainian-born American billionaire Len Blavatnik, the 60-year-old head of Access Industries and owner of Warner Music Group. Forbes ranks Mr. Blavatnik the 40th richest person in the world.
A rep for Mr. Blavatnik said he could not confirm the purchase.
More:Rockefeller Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side Goes Into Contract
But the billionaire’s record-setting buy would be less than surprising given he previously fought to buy the commercially zoned building directly from the Wildensteins.
He took the art scion David Wildenstein to court in 2016 over allegedly promising him the townhouse in a handshake deal—a judge later threw the case out.
Mr. Blavatnik already owns another mansion on East 64th Street that he bought for $51 million in 2007, according to property records.