Report: Paul McCartney Sold Fifth Avenue Penthouse at a Loss

He bought it in 2015

Paul McCartney
British singer-songwriter and musician Paul McCartney sitting on a bench and playing a Gibson Les Paul guitar. 1987.
Rino Petrosino/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

In 2015, Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell purchased a penthouse on Fifth Avenue with a view of Central Park. The occasion resulted in a detailed New York Times article chronicling the history of the building and extolling “the panoramic view across the Central Park reservoir.” The cost, at the time? $15.5 million.

Now, the couple has parted ways with the apartment. That in and of itself isn’t surprising; after all, the wealthy buy and sell high-end residences all the time, and the fact that (as per the Times report) this particular co-op allowed pieds-à-terre. What is surprising is how much they sold it for: $8.5 million.

According to a report at 6sqft, the co-op was first listed for $12 million before it went into contract last fall. As per The Real Deal’s article on the transaction, the buyer is unnamed.

No reason was given for why the property was sold at such a significant loss. Looking back at the 2015 New York Times report does offer some grounds for speculation. In the article, Vivian Marino noted that the couple would likely have renovations to make. “Little has been done to the unit,” Marino wrote, since it was first built.

The building dates back to 1967, and the duplex penthouse was inhabited by the developer Manny E. Duell and, following his death, his wife Irene, who died in 2014.

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