Another week, another peak sale hit the books in New York City — this time, in Staten Island.
A sprawling mansion in Todt Hill, the borough’s premier luxury neighborhood, snagged a record-breaking deal when it closed for $8.5 million, the New York Post first reported. The sale marked Staten Island’s most expensive of all time, beating a $4.6 million deal notched just a year prior.
The 11,000-square-foot estate, which has a basketball court, pool and hair salon, hit the market last September asking $9 million. The sellers, Richard and Vania Cardinale of Farm to Bagel, paid just $1.7 million for the property in 2017 and shelled out $6 million to build the eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom home.
News of the sale comes as home prices in Staten Island rose last month, with the borough’s median sale price up nearly 9 percent in August compared to the same month last year, according to data from Redfin.
“Staten Island always seems to be the forgotten borough,” said Corcoran’s Tom Le, who had the listing for 176 Benedict Road. “It should get more attention than it does.”
The deal for 176 Benedict Road blew past the norm for Staten Island, where the typical home traded for $750,000 in August. But the neighborhood is also home to two other likely exceptions to the local market.
The next priciest are a listing for another home on Benedict Road, a six-bedroom abode asking $5.7 million, and a 5,800-square-foot property on High Point Road asking $2.5 million, according to Zillow.
Homes on Benedict Road purchased in the last two decades have been gut-renovated or knocked down and rebuilt into larger mansions, Le added, which will likely yield even pricier deals when they trade in the coming years.
One such deal could be for the mansion across the street, which once belonged to the head of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano. The mob boss’ former estate at 177 Benedict Road hit the market two years ago, asking $17 million. Now priced at $18 million, it’s the most expensive listing in Staten Island.
Not so fast…
A contentious divorce between two fashion icons is throwing the fate of some of New York’s swankiest real estate into question.
Net-A-Porter founder Natalie Massenet sued her husband, Frame Denim co-founder Erik Torstensson, in a Los Angeles court last month, alleging he swindled her out of $95 million during their roughly 15-year relationship and had drug, alcohol and sex addictions.
Torstensson hit back with his own claim in New York court earlier this week when he filed for custody of their 7-year-old son amid allegations that Massenet used drugs, drank heavily and became occasionally “violent” with Torstensson, the New York Times reported.
The couple’s messy split will likely extend to their businesses and homes, including their double-wide townhouse on the Upper East Side. An entity tied to Massenet bought the property on East 74th Street for $25 million in 2019 from developers Larry Gluck and Ivan Hakimian.
At the time of the sale, the 12,000-square-foot historic mansion was about 80 percent complete.
Massenet and Torstensson then embarked on a two-year renovation of the home, which was temporarily thwarted by a rogue sprinkler, which saturated the home, the couple told the Wall Street Journal in 2022. The duo then bought the neighboring property with plans to combine it with the under-construction homes.
The couple also owns a home in East Hampton on Further Lane, which may have been the site of an extravagant Louis Vuitton garden party featured in Vogue last summer. The article describes the soiree’s setting as a “private” and “Saltburn-like estate,” where the fashion brand drove guests around the grounds, including a Japanese maple tree sanctuary, in branded Jeeps.
Massenet hosted the party alongside writer Derek Blasberg and the crown princess of Greece, Marie-Chantal.
Also in the pair’s portfolio is an estate outside London known as Donhead House, the renovation of which was featured in the Wall Street Journal and Architectural Digest.
NYC Deal of the Week
The most expensive sale to hit the city rolls this week was for a townhouse on the Upper East Side, which closed for $21 million, or $3,300 per square foot. The deal was less than its 2005 purchase price when the sellers bought it for $22 million and later renovated it.
The 20-foot-wide home at 16 East 64th Street, built in the late 1800s, hit the market last March asking $25 million. It spans 8,700 square feet and has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, an elevator and two terraces.
Leslie Garfield’s Thomas Wexler and Tyler Wexler had the listing.
Read more
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