Media mogul David Geffen has paid $54 million for a penthouse duplex owned by socialite Denise Rich on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, according to people familiar with the situation. The deal closed last week, they added.
The 12,000-square-foot duplex at 785 Fifth Avenue has an additional 5,000 square feet of exterior space with wrap-around terraces, making it one of the largest apartments in Manhattan. With seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, it overlooks Central Park. The upper level features a grand salon with marble floors, 11-foot ceilings, and custom mahogany doors. The lower level has a media room, billiard room, a gym and a professional recording studio.
Mr. Geffen, a co-founder of DreamWorks, currently owns an apartment in the same building, right below the penthouse. He expects to sell that apartment once he moves into the penthouse, which he plans to renovate.
Ms. Rich was asking $65 million for the property, which she put on the market in January. And although the $54 million Mr. Geffen paid is almost 17% off Ms. Rich’s asking price, it still marks the highest price ever paid for a co-op in Manhattan, according to Jonathan Miller, president at Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants.
Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, Noble Black, and Chazz Levi of Corcoran represented Ms. Rich in the transaction.
