Celeb hotelier André Balazs just sold this wild Soho apartment — with a massive walk-in closet the size of a Madison Ave. boutique — for $10.35 million.
The buyer of the 10th-floor unit at the New Museum Building at 158 Mercer St. is real estate developer David Barry, of Ironstate, and his wife, Kyra, a former Team Leader for the US Women’s national wrestling team and current president of Beat the Streets, which helps students participate in amateur wrestling.
But this is no “overnight” success when it comes to trophy real estate deals. The sprawling four-bedroom, 4,200-square-foot unit first went on the market for $10 million in 2007.
And it was asking as much as $12 million last year.
Balazs bought the stylish apartment for $5.75 million back in 2003, according to city records.
Balazs, who has dated Uma Thurman, is the brains behind the Mercer hotel in New York, LA’s Chateau Marmont and the Standard hotels in New York, LA and Miami — and his hip, sleek style is evident throughout the full floor unit, which was designed for entertaining.
So what do you get for that kind of money? The loft-like space includes lots of built-ins, like bookshelves, a canvas-covered “wall of light,” and a 13th-century Florentine fresco. There’s also a chef’s kitchen, a home gym and a living room with a woodburning fireplace encased in black Venetian plaster. A separate dining area boasts views of the Freedom Tower.
Balazs also reportedly used the home the way chefs use test kitchens — to try out features that later end up in his hotels, like heated towel racks.
The New Museum Building dates to 1895. It was converted to condos in 1996 and boasts a landscaped, common roof deck.
Past residents include rock royal Jon Bon Jovi and, more tragically, the late Mark Madoff — son of late Ponzi scammer Bernie Madoff. Mark Madoff hanged himself in the building in 2010 on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest.
Douglas Elliman brokers Tal and Oren Alexander had the listing.