Languishing on the market can be the kiss of death for some real estate listings. One celebrity investor doesn’t seem to have had that problem.
Barbara Corcoran, founder of Corcoran Real Estate and longtime Shark Tank investor, found a buyer for her Fifth Avenue penthouse in just one day. The four-bedroom duplex was listed for $12 million on Thursday, May 8, and had a contract signed by Friday.
The property was one of the 36 luxury units in Manhattan that went into contract during the week of May 5 to May 11, according to the weekly market report from Olshan Realty.
Corcoran’s 3,800-square-foot former penthouse features a fully landscaped terrace facing Central Park as well as a solarium, a wood-burning fireplace, French doors and a private elevator. The co-op building is off East 97th Street and supplies a fitness center and a 24-hour doorman.
Corcoran paid $10 million for the unit in 2015. She first encountered the apartment while delivering a letter there in 1992 and told the owner to call her if the home were ever on the market, she previously told The New York Times. After the purchase, she gutted the unit, spending $2 million over 18 months on renovations.
Corcoran, who is 76, is staying in the neighborhood. The stairs in the Fifth Avenue duplex have become an obstacle for her husband, who is 80 years old, she told the Times, prompting the couple to move into a one-level penthouse elsewhere in Carnegie Hill.
Olshan’s report suggests the unit was sold for more than the asking price, however Crain’s could not independently confirm this before press time.
Scott Stewart and Carrie Chiang, the Corcoran Real Estate agents who listed the property, did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The identity of the buyer is not publicly available.
Corcoran founded her real estate group in 1973 and sold it for $66 million in 2001. She joined the show Shark Tank, on which she vets business investment pitches as part of a panel, at its debut in 2009. She has been on the show for 16 seasons.
There were 36 Manhattan units listed for more than $4 million that entered into contract last week, three more than the previous week. If the number of contract signings continues apace, this month is on track to outdo May 2024. April saw about 16% year-over-year growth in luxury contract signings.
The most expensive asking price for a home that entered into contract last week was $25 million for a penthouse at 15 E. 30th St. The 5,150-square-foot apartment has four bedrooms, 23-foot-high ceilings and a large terrace. The NoMad building has a lap pool, a cold plunge, a hot tub and a golf simulator.
