Glory Hallelujah! Sutton Mansion Sells for $32.5 M., Way Higher Than Asking Price

In a jaw-dropping reversal to all the fear and anxiety that's been rippling through the city's high-end real estate lately, an East River mansion, 7 Sutton Square, has sold for $32.5 million, well above its $25 million asking price.

According to city records, the seller is William F. Reilly, a retired magazine mogul. The buyer is listed anonymously, though a billing address is given care of Wildenstein & Co., which suggests that the house now belongs to the art collector Guy Wildenstein. His family's East 64th Street mansion (the one he once shared with a famously-faced ex-sister-in-law) sold this year for $42.5 million, and his $49.2 million sprawl at the Plaza is currently on the market. Last month, The Times wrote: "After giving up on the Plaza, Mr. Wildenstein has decided to look for another town house where he can preserve his privacy and have grand spaces."

The deal closed on September 23rd; there are no mortgages filed in city records, which means it was likely bought in cash. The fact that someone was willing to pay $7.5 million above asking price late last month is a sign that the city might not be tanking so violently after all. But consider that the contract was signed back in June, and it's possible that the listing was vastly underpriced.

Either way, why did someone pay so much? A source said the buyer had "badly wanted the parking spaces" that came with the mansion, which was combined about 10 years ago from two 1879 townhouses.