thewallstreetjournal. friday, february17,2017|m3 mansion · thewallstreetjournal. friday,...
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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, February 17, 2017 |M3
Jürgen Friedrich is tryingagain to sell his Plaza spread,this time listing it for $39.5million, or 28% less than itsasking price in 2008.
Many of the units in NewYork’s Plaza hotel were con-verted to condos in themid-2000s. Mr. Friedrich, whofounded the European opera-tions of fashion retailer EspritHoldings, bought the roughly4,300-square-foot, three-bed-room apartment from the de-veloper in 2007, paying$25.493 million, according topublic records.
He then listed it for $55million in 2008, later drop-ping the price to $38 millionbefore taking it off the marketin 2009, according to listingswebsite Streeteasy.com.
Melanie Lazenby of Doug-las Elliman Real Estate, whohas the listing with colleagueDina Lewis, declined to iden-
said. She said the ownerswant to try again to sell thethree-bedroom, keeping thesmaller one for their own use.“When they first bought [thethree-bedroom] they thoughtthey’d be spending muchmore time here,” she said.
The unit has Central Parkviews from the dining room,living room, library and mas-ter bedroom. Mr. Friedrichadded oak paneling, doorsand windows, along with plas-ter moldings and antique fire-place surrounds. He couldn’tbe reached for comment.
In July of last year, a three-bedroom unit at the Plazasold for $14.5 million, afterinitially going on the marketfor $18 million in 2015.
Witt Stephens Jr. has pur-chased a South Georgia quail-hunting plantation for approxi-mately $40 million, accordingto public records.
Known as Blue SpringsPlantation, the property wasn’tofficially on the market, saidElliott Davenport Jr. of Halland Hall, who represented Mr.Stephens. Mr. Stephens, anavid hunter, had been lookingfor a plantation for over ayear. “We approached theowner and were able to worksomething out,” Mr. Davenportsaid.
Mr. Stephens is the son ofWitt Stephens Sr., whofounded Arkansas investmenthouse Stephens Inc. in the1930s; it eventually becameone of the largest brokeragesbased off Wall Street. In2006, Mr. Stephens Jr. andhis sister sold their interest inStephens Inc., and establishedthe Stephens Group to focuson principal investing, accord-ing to the company’s website.
Blue Springs Plantationspans about 7,235 acres inBaker and Dougherty counties,about 90 miles north of Talla-hassee, Fla., in an area some-times called the “quail belt.”“This is some of the mostsought-after wild quail huntingground in the country,” Mr.Davenport said. The house hasa gun room and library, Mr.Davenport said, but “is in needof major work.” He said Mr.Stephens Jr., who lives primar-ily in Little Rock, Ark., plans torenovate the house.
The seller was the Mount-castle family of Tennessee,who had owned it for around50 years, Mr. Davenport said.Blue Springs is adjacent toTed Turner’s Nonami Planta-tion, which was also oncepart of Blue Springs, accordingto Mr. Davenport. Mr. Ste-phens Jr., and the Mountcastlefamily couldn’t be reached forcomment.
FINANCIER PAYS$40MILLIONFOR QUAILESTATE
Evan Metropoulos is in con-tract to pay roughly $65 mil-lion for the onetime DannyThomas estate in BeverlyHills, which was listed in 2015for $135 million, according topeople with knowledge of thetransaction.
Mr. Metropoulos is thebrother of Daren Metropoulos,who purchased the PlayboyMansion last year for $100million. Both are principals at
Metropoulos & Co., the invest-ment firm founded by their fa-ther, Dean Metropoulos, whomade a fortune building well-known consumer brands in-cluding Bumble Bee Tuna andVlasic Pickles. The companybought Hostess Brands out ofliquidation in 2013.
On roughly 2½ acres, theMoorish-style home is inTrousdale Estates and is listedwith Aaron Kirman, president
of Aaroe Estates, with JohnAaroe Group. The 18,000-square-foot, seven-bedroomhome has expansive viewsfrom its position atop a prom-ontory.
Jade Mills of ColdwellBanker Previews Internationalrepresented Mr. Metropoulos.
The comedian Mr. Thomasbuilt the house in 1970, ac-cording to public records. Af-ter his widow died in 2000,
the couple’s children, who in-clude actress Marlo Thomas,sold the property for $15 mil-lion, according to public re-cords.
Mr. Kirman said in a priorinterview that the currentowner renovated the house.
This isn’t Evan Metropou-los’s first big property pur-chase: About a year ago hebought a 2-acre Key Biscayne,Fla., estate for $47 million, his
spokesman said.The home, which sits on a
peninsula with a private har-bor, had been listed in 2014for $60 million with ONE So-theby’s International Realty.Mr. Metropoulos then pur-chased the property next doorfor $11.8 million, the spokes-person said. He bought theproperties as an investmentand plans to combine them,his spokesperson said.
THIRDTIME’S THECHARM?PLAZAHOTEL CONDOBACKTOMARKET FOR$39.5MILLION
tify the owner. She said afterthe spread didn’t sell theowner spent several years andmillions of dollars renovatingit. In 2011 the owner put the
unit plus a one-bedroomapartment across the hall onthe rental market for a com-bined $165,000 per month,reducing the price to
$125,000 in 2012 before find-ing a tenant, according to Ms.Lazenby.
The renters moved out overthe holidays, Ms. Lazenby
See more photos ofnotable homes at WSJ.com/Mansion. Email: [email protected]
MANSION
ONETIME DANNY THOMASHOME GETS $65MILLION
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