German Investment Firm Buys Lenox Hill Townhouse for $11M

A German investment firm is the new co-owner of a 9,769-square-foot Lenox Hill townhouse on East 66th Street that’s been on the market for ten years.

Tatar Mupe, based in Paderborn, Germany, is the new owner. The townhouse is classified as K4, which means it qualifies as a retail property “with other potential uses.” Currently it has ten residential apartments, but all have been emptied of residents over recent years.

The 113-year-old property was initially bought for $5.8 million in February 2010 by Thor Equities, an investment company. Two years after purchasing the property, Thor Equities tried to resell it for sale for $20 million - more than triple the amount they had paid. However, when they could not find a buyer, the property was yanked off the market. Finally, in 2013, it was relisted by Mathew Lesser of Leslie J. Garfield’s brokerage firm but the asking price was slashed to $13.75 million. In the end, the house was sold for $11 million, with Thor Equities retaining a one percent stake in the place, as reported by PincusCo.

Nestled between two residential homes, the townhouse–which qualifies as a K4, which means it can be a residential or commercial space–boasts ten separate units and is six stories tall. Its distinct neo-classical style and monochrome shades ensure it stands out from the brownstones on the street. Apart from ample space, historical value, and unique architectural details, the property is ideally located between Park and Madison Avenues, with Central Park and several high-end retailers, such as Alexander McQueen and Tory Burch, just a few blocks away.

Per a recent report by Streeteasy.com, the city’s townhouse market has been particularly strong in recent months, especially in parts of Brooklyn such as Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, where 197 townhouses were sold in the first half of 2023. Although, the Manhattan market has moved at a slower pace compared to Brooklyn, where 114 townhouses went into contract this year. Considering market records, Thor’s asking price and longer time on the market demonstrate the difficulty in selling these spaces. In a 2022 article by therealdeal.com, Lesser shared that if things were priced too high in the New York market, they typically sit, which could be the case as to why this Lenox Hill property took longer to sell out. In the same interview, Lesser also mentioned that vacating the townhouse–which still had several occupied rental units until last year–would make the property easier to sell.

There is no word on whether the new owner planned to renovate existing apartments or take advantage of its commercial possibilities. Thor Equities, Matthew Lesser, and Tatar Mupe did not respond to requests for comment by the deadline.