In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, DUMBO development titan David Walentas has put on the market the borough’s most-expensive apartment.
All it takes is $25 million and a dream (and finding a bank to give you a mortgage).
Then again, what good is a fiscal Depression if you can’t indulge in escapist fantasy? And this 7,000-square-foot penthouse is certainly a pie in the sky: sprawling over three floors, the living space extends outwards to include a wraparound terrace with views of Manhattan so perfect that you might even be willing to spend Manhattan-prices to enjoy them.
It’s “arguably one of the world’s greatest views,” Walentas said.
Four 14-foot clock faces provide the dominant design feature. Natural light pours through them, thanks to the removal of the mechanicals from the original 1914 building, which Walentas bought more than a decade ago and converted to condos in 1998.
With the eight-figure asking price, the Clocktower penthouse drawfs all previous contenders for real-estate excess, including a $6-million apartment with a wraparound terrace in the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building and a $7.25-million apartment in One Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Walentas’s vice president for residential properties, Asher Abehsera, said the Clocktower’s luxury is worth the price.
“It supersedes real estate; it’s a work of art that cannot be duplicated,” said Abehsera.