NEW YORK CITY-Lehm Holdings has sold 7 W. 54th St., also known as the Philip Lehman Mansion, to an unnamed buyer for $40 million. The six-story, 20,000-square-foot commercial townhouse recently underwent a $20 million renovation to restore the historic property to its original grandeur. The mansion was designated as a New York landmark in 1981.
Lehm Holdings, was represented by Jones Lang LaSalle's Aaron Ellison, SVP; and the Corcoran Group's Carrie Chiang, associate real estate broker. The unnamed buyer was represented by Shari Scharfer-Rollins, associate real estate broker, also with Corcoran.
“The Philip Lehman Mansion is one of only a handful of turn-of-the century residences remaining on West 54th Street,” says Ellison. “This historic and ultra-high-end property is ideal as a Manhattan flagship headquarters space.” Adds Chiang, “The Philip Lehman Mansion is a truly rare property with unmatched investment value.”
The Philip Lehman Mansion was constructed in 1889 for Philip Lehman, the son of Lehman Brothers co-founder Emanuel Lehman, and his wife Carrie Lauer. Designed in the French Beaux-Arts style, the six-story limestone mansion features copper-framed ocular windows, a bowed-stone balcony, and French doors with elaborate carved festoons and cartouches.
In the late 1950s, the Philip Lehman Mansion became the residence of Robert Lehman, Philip's son. The townhouse served as his private art gallery, exhibiting works by Rembrandt, Goya, Durer, Renoir, Ingres and El Greco. Upon his death in 1969, Robert Lehman bequeathed the artwork to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with the caveat that the collection must always remain intact. He had hoped the mansion would be dismantled and reconstructed as a wing of the museum. Instead, rather than move the entire building, the Met dismantled several rooms, installing them as part of the Robert Lehman Wing, which opened in 1975.
In 2006, with the cooperation of the museum, the landmarked townhouse underwent a meticulous, $20 million restoration, with many features of the original building returned to the mansion. The work included the addition of a modern, glass penthouse with a retractable roof, an elevator and state-of-the-art mechanical, electrical and HVAC systems.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
