An art dealer is hoping for a masterpiece of a deal in Greenwich Village.
Gordon VeneKlasen, an owner of the global Michael Werner Gallery, has listed his 3-story townhouse in the gated cul-de-sac MacDougal Alley for about $20 million, according to an ad that appeared Thursday.
He paid about $6 million for the 1,900-square-foot property in 2009, according to the city register, and so could more than triple his investment. But VeneKlasen invested in a major renovation.
Indeed, working with architect Annabelle Selldorf, with whom VeneKlasen became friendly after she designed his gallery’s outpost at 4 E. 77th St. in 1990, VeneKlasen converted what was a three-bedroom site into a one-bedroom dwelling, according to a 2014 profile in W magazine.
The makeover also apparently turned a wine cellar into a library, added a glass-walled vestibule and installed a roof deck.
VeneKlasen’s purchase of the prewar structure, which was built in the mid-1800s as a horse stable for homeowners a block away on Washington Square Park North, came about through a work connection as well.
The site’s previous owner was Wall Street billionaire Daniel Loeb, who owned the red-brick landmark from 1994 to 2009, based on the register. Loeb, who is the chief executive officer of 30-year-old, Hudson Yards-based hedge fund Third Point, was apparently a client of VeneKlasen and gave him the first crack at the property when Loeb decided to relocate.
Michael Werner Gallery, which has had a London location since 2012, has been in expansion mode as of late, adding two new addresses, in Los Angeles and Athens, Greece, last year.
One of the quirkiest and most beloved streets in the Village, MacDougal Alley, with only about a half-dozen single-family houses, has been home through the decades not only to art vendors but to artists themselves.
Painter Jackson Pollock reportedly lived next door to VeneKlasen’s property for a brief time in the late 1940s. Sculptor Isamu Noguchi also lived and worked on the short, low-slung stretch in the same era, though the Rudin family razed his building in the early 1950s to construct the 20-story apartment building 2 Fifth Ave., which is a co-op today.
Where VeneKlasen might be headed next is unknown. Tim Malone, the Compass agent marketing the home, had no comment, according to a spokeswoman.
