by Vivian S. Toy of The New York Times
IT’S not every day that an apartment with two balconies, one terrace and 100 feet fronting on Central Park comes on the market. Nor do you often find one with a 70-foot long-gallery, 12-foot-high ceilings and seven working fireplaces. Rarer still is it to see one at the famed Dakota.
After all, if you lived in a place like that, why would you want to leave?
But the owner of just such an apartment has decided to put his home of 17 years on the market for $29.6 million, but only because he plans to move out of the city.
John Burger, a managing director at Brown Harris Stevens who represents the owner and who has sold many apartments at the Dakota, said the listing was unusual because “the apartment has been restored to its original grandeur and also fully renovated with modern amenities.”
The owner, who is an investor and who runs a private foundation, asked not to be identified because he is a very private person. He said he had looked at several apartments in the Dakota before buying this one in 1995, “I fell in love with this apartment because of the park views from almost every room and the unique terrace off the master bedroom,” he said.
The sixth-floor apartment is just above tree line. The terrace, which seems to hang right over Central Park West, offers an unparalleled view of the Thanksgiving Day parade. “You look up the street and the balloons are coming right at you,” he said. It’s not a bad perch for New Year’s Eve fireworks either, which are set off by the lake due east of the apartment.