A Plaza Hotel condo at the center of a contentious divorce involving members of Kazakhstan’s ruling family was the most expensive home to change hands in Manhattan last week.
The condo topped Olshan Realty’s list of priciest homes to go into contract with its $17.9 million asking price, but it was significantly lower than the $30 million price tag while on the market in 2014. It’s also less than the $20.2 million fertilizer tycoon Bolat Nazarbayev, the property’s seller, paid for it in 2008.
More:Click Here to Read More About the Plaza Apartment at Center of Bitter Family Feud
Nevertheless, the brother of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev must be relieved to finally sell it after a lengthy battle with his ex-wife, Maira Saudabayevna, and his stepson, Daniyar Kesikbayev, with whom he bought the property.
When the couple divorced in 2012, Bolat Nazarbayev, sued them for $100 million in Manhattan Civil Court, claiming that his stepson tricked him into selling him the condo for just $1.
In April, Mr. Kesikbayev eventually handed back ownership of the 4,064-square-foot, four-bedroom home with views of Central Park to the fertilizer tycoon, allowing him to sell it. The selling price will be released when the sale officially closes.
Overall, 22 contracts were signed last week in Manhattan at $4 million and above, down from 24 in the previous week, which was the highest total since the first week of August, according to Olshan, which tracks $4 million-plus sales in Manhattan.
The second priciest sale involved an apartment at one of President-elect Donald Trump’s buildings. It was a 4,000-square-foot, four-bedroom penthouse at Trump Place-branded 220 Riverside Blvd., asking $12.1 million, reduced from $13.95 million when it went on the market in August of 2015. It went into contract the day before the election.
More:Trump Tower Gets PR Jolt from Namesake’s Victory, But Many Apartments Remain Unsold
Some experts told Mansion Global last week that they believe that Trump-branded homes could now rise in value after Mr. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton as foreign buyers would see buying a property in a building developed by the president of the U.S. as a good investment opportunity.
