Cue jokes about how the New York City co-op market is "killing her softly."
Roberta Flack, the Grammy award-winning R&B singer best known for 1970s classics "Where is the Love?" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song," has relisted her two-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op in the famed Dakota building on the Upper West Side, and is now asking $7.5 million, down from $9.5 million when she first put it on the market in June 2015.
The apartment was delisted earlier this year and just this week re-listed with a new broker, Rebecca Edwardson of Warburg Realty. (NYC luxury co-ops are not having the easiest time selling these days.)
The pre-war co-op building, perhaps New York’s most famous, is home to Yoko Ono (whose husband, John Lennon was shot outside the building). Ms. Flack has lived at 1 West 72nd St. for 40 years. In that time, the notoriously difficult co-op board has reportedly rejected stars like Carly Simon, Madonna and Billy Joel.
More:Forced Sales Set for Apartments at the Dakota
Now, assuming you can get past the board, you’ll get an apartment with prewar details like original oak floors, 12-foot ceilings, and a fireplace in every major room.
Exterior view of the Dakota building on the Upper West Side.
Warburg Realty"All of the apartments at the Dakota are special, and they have a Parisian feel. The living room, dining room and bedrooms are all grand," says Ms. Edwardson. "The ceiling heights are high, and the windows are new construction size. In the living room in this apartment, you have windows that go to the floor."
"The guest bedroom is the most romantic, charming guest bedroom you could imagine. It has its own wood-burning fireplace complete with its original mantle," Ms. Edwardson added.
More:Manhattan’s Most Expensive Listed Home Drops Sale Price
There’s also a wraparound Juliet balcony "and elongated windows that lead to that, so you’ve got amazing light and views." And since the seventh floor apartment faces south, "there’s direct sunlight all day, and even get partial views of Central Park, particularly from the bay window in the living room," says Ms. Edwardson.
The listing describes the apartment as "architect ready," meaning that you could turn it back into a three-bedroom, three-bathroom, as it was originally configured. Also, those mirrored walls would be an easy fix to change.