Go west... Billy sells his £3m New York f lat to head for sun
IT is a stunning New York apartment, a long way from the Glasgow tenement where he was born.
But Billy Connolly has sold his plush Manhattan pad to venture even further afield – to the west coast of America to help him battle Parkinson’s disease.
The 73-year-old is set on moving to sunnier climes to allow him to take more exercise.
The comedian’s three-bedroom apartment in the city’s trendy Flatiron district was on offer for £3.55million ($4.7million) and he can expect to make a profit of almost £750,000.
Connolly and his wife, psychotherapist Pamela Stephenson, bought the tenth-floor loft on Fifth Avenue for £2.87million ($3.8million) in 2007 to be near their three daughters, while they attended college.
Connolly – who was born ‘on the linoleum three floors up’ in a tenement in Dover Street, Glasgow – revealed earlier this year that he was thinking of moving to Los Angeles.
In an interview with online magazine The Interrobang, he said the better weather would make it easier for him to get exercise, ‘cause I have Parkinson’s disease and I need to exercise more’.
He added: ‘Some days I walk badly and other days I don’t. Sometimes I find it difficult to get out of my chair when I’m in a restaurant.
‘It’s kind of embarrassing. I have to ask for help, but it’s okay.’
He has lived in New York fulltime since 2014 after selling Candacraig House, in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.
Yesterday, Debbie Korb, senior global real estate adviser for Sothebys International Realty, who is handling the New York sale, said: ‘I can’t say [the final price] because we haven’t closed yet. It is in contract and until we have closed I am not at liberty to say what it sold for.’
She added: ‘I used to live in the building so I have met Mr Connolly in the past. He’s just wonderful, just delightful in every way. He’s one of my favourite clients I have ever had.
‘It was on the market for two months and it is going to someone who already lives in the building who wanted more space.’
Sothebys described the apartment as: ‘Undoubtedly the most distinctive loft in the building.
‘Tucked away on either side of the grand living space are three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms as well as an area that functions as a home office.’
The white-painted 38ft-long main room incorporates a kitchen, dining area and two seating areas with magnificent views over the Flatiron district.