Having shelled out $88 million to sign center Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander apparently decided it's OK to splurge on something for himself.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Alexander has purchased a penthouse on the top two floors of 18 Gramercy Park for $42 million. It is the highest price ever paid for a residence in downtown Manhattan, the newspaper reports, citing city records.
CultureMap first reported last October that Alexander had agreed to buy the property.
Located on the 17th and 18th floors of a former Salvation Army residence for women in a building conversion by architect Robert A.M. Stern, the penthouse has 6,330 square feet of interior space and 1,889 square feet of outdoor space on four terraces. One 40-foot-wide terrace faces Gramercy Park, with views of the Chrysler Building. Two terraces that open off the master bedroom have an outdoor infinity pool and heated whirlpool.
The apartment has five bedrooms and 5½ baths, a library, formal dining room, dramatic salon and gallery.
In 2006, Forbes estimated that Alexander, a former bond trader, was worth $1.2 billion. In January of this year, the magazine ranked the Rockets as the seventh richest team in the NBA, with a valuation of $568 million. He paid $85 million for the team in 1993.
Artist rendering of the lobby.
