The new 'Chic" address

A staggering number of recent multimillion-dollar real estate purchases in New York were made by executives at the free-fallen Lehman Brothers.

In January 2007, Dick Fuld the firm's chief executive paid $21 million for a Park Avenue co-op.

At 15 Central Park West:
Raymond Mikulich,the co-head of Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners paid $17.9 million;
Erin Callan, Lehman CFO paid $6.48 million;
David Bizer, the head of Lehman's European fixed-income sales paid $5.3 million;
Arthur Estey, managing director bought one of the building's biggest non-penthouse units for $16.9 million.
George Herbert Walker IV, Lehman's global head of investment management, one of the president's cousins, paid $13.95 million for a townhouse at 6 East 10th Street in Greenwich Village.

The explanation for this : those insanely large bonuses we read about each year, and a brilliant awareness of what a valuable investment opportunity those properties would ultimately become.

However, none of those deals looks more ironic in hindsight than the $25 Million spread that Bear Stearns’ ex-CEO Jimmy Cayne bought in February at the Plaza.


Via: The New York Observer: