IT’S STEAL AT $21M
After mega-fixup, owner bought bigger pad, never moved in
FINALLY, A Manhattan apartment that’s fit for a king — King Louis XIV, that is.
Ukrainian fertilizer billionaire Alexander Rovt is getting serious about selling his Neoclassical Versailles-style townhouse in Midtown, putting it back on the market for $21.5 million, down from an initial ask of $27 million, the Daily News has learned.
The business magnate has also switched representation, swapping Daniel Messing of Piquet Realty for Jason Haber of Warburg Realty.
Rovt snagged the 12,000-square-foot master of the universe-type property, at 232 E. 63rd St., from Benihana restaurant founder Rocky Aoki for $4.7 million in 2005 — then proceeded to redo it top to bottom to mimic the First Empire style of the 17th-century seat of the French monarchy.
The renovation is said to have cost $18 million.
The results are incredible — in both senses of the word: mahogany-paneled walls, hand-painted silk wallpaper, hand-carved moldings, gold leafing, Venetian plaster, Brazilian cherry herringbone floors and antique accents
throughout. “You don’t see Neoclassic design in Manhattan townhouses because it’s just too complicated,” Haber told The News. “This was a global pursuit to find materials
and artisans who could do this work. Everything is handpicked and custom made.” Security is also paramount in the 15-room house, especially for a billionaire tycoon such as Rovt.
There’s witha high-tech security system hidden cameras throughout the house and retractable bulletproof metal for the rear windows. There’s shades also a cigar and billiard
room, a movie screening room, a study, a private garage and an outdoor roof terrace.
The piece de resistance? A basement spa with a pool decorated in hand-glazed glass tiles, a sauna, a hot tub and a massage room.
Rovt’s hoping to sell the palatial property to someone with similarly Gaulish tastes, since it would be a shame to trash millions of dollars in custom moldings and hand-painted murals.
“It would be an act of vandalism,” Haber said.
Oddly, Rovt never actually lived in the 25-foot house, since he found an even bigger one halfway through the five-year renova tion.
He bought the 36-foot wide Sloane Mansion on E. 68th St. for around $33 million and is now in the midst of a similarly ostentatious renovation.