Posh New York Apartments
Will Become Condominiums

The crown jewel of New York apartment buildings will be converted into condominiums under a deal reached Wednesday by an Israeli billionaire for a 50% stake in the property.

Africa-Israel USA, an investment company of diamond mogul Lev Leviev purchased half of the Apthorp from a group of investors led by Mann Realty Associates that closed on the building last night for $426 million. Mann Realty had previously disclosed it was purchasing the building but said it would maintain it as a rental building. After factoring in the retail space on the ground floor, the purchase price comes to about $2.4 million per apartment -- the most ever paid for a residential building in the U.S. The Apthorp is one of the most exclusive rental buildings in the world, with monthly rents of up to $20,000.

The Apthorp, a 445,000 square-foot Renaissance Revival structure built by the Astor family in the early 1900s, has 163 apartments around a central courtyard and has been the home of Al Pacino, Nora Ephron and Conan O'Brien. At the same time, more than half the apartments are rent stabilized, and would require buyouts or other incentives to be converted, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The purchase price is about $1,000 per square foot, and a person familiar with the deal said conversions could fetch up to $2,500 per square foot. Africa-Israel has made aggressive moves into U.S. real estate in the last few years, as Mr. Leviev has diversified his interests. It owns stakes in two luxury residential buildings near Wall Street, as well as properties in Florida, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Rotem Rosen, chief executive of Africa-Israel's American operations said the company will continue to expand in the U.S. and is specifically focusing on New York.

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