Kenneth Laub’s townhouse has been on the market for the past 15 years. It’s asking price has dropped from a high of $35million to its most recent $19.75million
The ‘Versailles in Manhattan’ is now on its 12th set of real estate brokers trying to flog the townhouse which has been languishing, ‘unsellable,’ for the past 15 years.
The 15-room, neo-Georgian townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, owned by commercial real estate broker Kenneth Laub, 79, has been on the market since April 2003.
After cycling through 11 other teams of residential brokers over the years, Laub has now co-listed the townhouse with agents at Douglas Elliman and Corcoran, according to the New York Post.
The ‘architectural masterpiece’ now has an asking price of $19.75million — significantly down from its highest asking price of $35million in 2007.
Laub reportedly bought the townhouse, which was built by architect John G. Prague, for $4million in 1986.
Back in 2009, while the townhouse was still listed at $35million, Laub told the Observer that if the house was ‘overpriced then so be it.’ When asked why he didn’t lower the price to sell the joint, as others had done, he said, ‘The answer is very simple: I have no need to.’
However, in recent years, the home’s price tag has steadily declined. In 2011, it was listed for $29.95million, before falling to $27.5million in 2013, then $25million in 2015 and $23.9million in 2017.
Now, at $19.75million, real estate brokers said the townhouse is finally approaching a reasonable sale price, although they said the house is still overpriced for what — and where — it is.
The home’s listing describes it as being a four story building with 15 large rooms, five of which are bedrooms, and eight bathrooms.
The Upper East Side townhouse, which has been called the ‘Versailles of Manhattan’ because of its ornate interiors, is now being listed with its 12th set of real estate brokers
The home was built in 1872, has 15 rooms, eight bathrooms, eight carved marble fireplaces, a gym and two gardens
It has a basement that has inlaid marble and wood flooring, carved wood moldings and paneling, high ceilings, an elevator, eight carved marble fireplaces, a gym, professional kitchen and fabric walls. There’s a rear garden and a large terrace garden on the fourth floor.
The townhouse was originally built in 1872 and apparently underwent an extensive renovation at some point before being put on the market.
Although a townhouse expert praised Laub’s home, telling the New York Post that it wasn’t ‘all smoke and mirrors,’ other experts pondered whether the house was actually unique enough to warrant paying such a high premium for its museum-like, pseudo-Versailles appearance.
The cost of a gut renovation to modernize the interiors, in addition to purchasing the house itself, might just be too astronomical for buyers.
Another issue that’s thought to be keeping the house off the market is the fact that it’s not quite as big as it’s being claimed to be.
A look at one of the five lavish bedrooms contained within the 6,700 square foot townhouse which Laub purchased in 1986
The townhouse, built in 1872, features a terrace garden on the fourth floor as well as a rear garden
Sumptuous inlaid marble and wood floors are among the grand features of the home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan
The home was technically measured by New York City at 6,716 finished square feet, but is listed as being an 8,000 square foot abode, a figure that includes the basement.
Some real estate experts told the New York Post that the larger square footage is ‘misleading,’ as basement space is not generally included in reports of total square footage.
‘It looks like a better [dollar-per-square-foot] deal if they are using 8,000 square feet,’ a luxury-market expert said.
The primary reason why the home might not have secured a buyer over the last decade and a half could be the fact that it isn’t in a particularly lustworthy area of the Upper East Side.
The house underwent an extensive renovation after it was originally purchased by Laub, who originally paid $4million for it
One of the reasons the home might’ve been on the market for so long is due to the fact that it is not in a prime area for townhouse buyers, it’s too far east of the more desirable locations
Real estate experts say that the home’s museum-like qualities might actually be a negative factor for people in the townhouse market
While a nearby townhouse with an address between tony Fifth and Madison avenues sold for $28.5million in April, Laub’s home is between the less desirable, further east Lexington and Third avenues.
In comparison, a five bedroom townhouse a block over from Laub’s home sold for just $9.6million in January.
Paula Del Nunzio, a broker at real estate company Brown Harris Stevens said that some townhouse buyers turn their noses up at anything that isn’t on Fifth or Madison avenues.
‘You can show them extraordinary properties [beyond Park] and they won’t be interested,’ Del Nunzio told the New York Post.
One last issue that is perhaps preventing the home from being sold is the mere fact that it has been on the market for so long — a rarity considering how quickly properties are usually snapped up in Manhattan.
‘[When] your days on market increase [and] your price continues to get chopped down . . . people wonder what’s wrong,’ according to a luxury broker.