The construction site at 48-50 West 69th Street in July 2022 (Google Maps)
A wealthy couple whose construction project on West 69th Street had for years enraged local residents have listed the now-completed property – which they were expected to actually live in – for $85 million.
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Business exec Pierre Bastid and jazz singer Malou Beauvoir bought two townhouses – 48 and 50 West 69th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue – back in 2011 and 2012 for a combined $24.5 million. They had the properties demolished in 2018 and soon after that, complaints of dust and debris, excess noise, increased traffic, fumes and dead plants began accumulating. Some people actually moved.
The construction site at 48-50 West 69th Street in July 2022 (Google Maps)
The real estate project starting getting major attention when the New York Times published an April 2019 story about the giant underground pool they were building. The listing, via Compass, does mention a “55-foot indoor lap pool” as one of the amenities within the almost 20,000 square foot, 25-room mansion.
“I live 2 house[s] away from this and I wake every morning to this horrendous noise besides the shaking of my building and the fumes that make it harder for me to breathe!” one reader wrote when we shared the story on Facebook at the time.
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More than two years later, with the quality of life still massively impacted by the growing structure, fed up block residents shared their frustrations in writing on scattered printouts plastered to the construction site’s scaffolding.
Photo: Bobby Panza
One of our readers added at the time:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”16″]This building site is a MAJOR disruption. I live on the north side of 68th and there is literally construction noise all day – oftentimes on the weekend as well. Even now, years later, you would think the place would be completed, but it is not even close. The basement foundation has barely been finished and there is no meaningful amount of work done. We are in for more torture over the coming years…all for these two idiots who are, frankly, not welcome.
[/perfectpullquote]Welcoming the wealthy couple is one thing the UWS won’t have to worry about.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which was first to report the news, “Bastid said he had planned to make the house his primary residence, but that ‘world and personal events’ have shifted his attention to Europe.” A source also told the outlet that their decision to sell is connected to their recent divorce. The listing agent, Jim St. André, declined to comment on the decision.
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If the $85 million asking price is achieved, it will be one of the most expensive townhouses ever sold in NYC, according to the WSJ. The record was set on the Upper East Side in 2018 with the $90 million sale of the Wildenstein mansion (19 East 64th Street).
Some features of the more than 41′ wide mansion with 25 rooms include a “limestone floating staircase” connecting all eight levels; 24′ living room ceilings; an “indoor/outdoor health and wellness space” which comes with the pool along with a “jacuzzi, fitness center and yoga space”; and a full-floor, 2,000 square foot primary suite.
The monthly tax bill is $15,509.
DIrtbag people put the neighborhood through heck for years just to turn a profit.
I’m SHOCKED they’re getting divorced.
We really need a Chairman Mao-style Land Reform Movement in this city.
It’s so sad to see the beautiful, unfettered little turn of the century townhouse next door, 115 W 69th– which was the on location boarding house where Pete Sheppard (Jack Lemmon in debut film role) fell in love with Gladys Glover (Judy Holliday) in 1954 “It Should Happen to You” in the middle of this horrendous mess. My deepest empathy to the nearby residents for all they’ve gone through.
And 55 W 69 served as the facade for Lemon’s apartment in “The Apartment.” The stoop of that building was removed some years later.
In that movie Jack Lemmon said he paid $85 a month to live there.
For all the Sturm und Drang, watch (a) it take forever to sell and (b) the disgusting owners, divorced, divorcing, or neither, won’t accept reasonable offers along the way (c) the general erosion of safety on the UWS with legal and illegal cannabis/smoke shop break-ins and (d) group-organized looting of fashion and eyeglass stores on Columbus and Broadway
being the norm not the exception…..they will be lucky to finally settle on half of the fantasy-land ask of $85 million, somewhere in the neighborhood of $40M. And don’t forget, even with the old 6% commission rate — another fantasy-land number many of us were way too gullible to accept without negotiating it significantly lower — that should only add around $5 M to the price, right? Whereas In actuality this is what happens: the broker/realtor adds more than double his/her commission so the potential buyer now thinks he/she is getting a bargain negotiating a lower price. But in the end that still nets everyone what they want. In this example, divorcing couple want $75 M so the conjoined townhouses are put on the market NOT at $75M + 6% on top but $75M + over 10% on top….thus bringing us to the “what are they smoking” ask of $85M. Over a year from now, watch it go for $40-$45M tops. And, yes, this is what’s been going on acros every condo/co-op/house and property for sale at all levels, from $500K to $25M here and around the country. Realtors/brokers/real estate sales people have been gouging the RE market with 10% sale price exaggerations so that owners can get the price they want, brokers can get their 6% and the prospective buyer thinks he/she is getting a bargain at 5-6% off the asking price.
Any chance to work in your disdain of cannabis, right? Sorry to step on your narrative, but weed is being sold legally and illegally everywhere. I doubt the UWS is much different from any other neighborhood. But good luck with your campaign.
I just reread your post and I was out of line. Please disregard, ignore, etc. Apologies.
This neighborhood was a GREAT place in which to grow up in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. Basically, any time before Y2K I guess..
I think I’ll break in and become a squatter tonight. Live the good life while they struggle for years to evict me.
Bless you Brandon, take me with you along with my chickens, dogs, cats, goats, pigeons and rabbits!
I gave up a large rent-stabilized apartment on the north side of West 68th in 2021. The noise and the dust were just unbearable. I know it’s not kind of me, but I was heartened by the fact that the couple is divorcing. And I hope they recoup none of their investment.
Amazing that on that beautiful block of brownstones over 120 years old, the block had never been designated a “Landmarked Historic District”, and that two beautiful brownstones were destroyed to make way for this monstrosity, which ended being up for naught, now that the owning couple is divorcing. The entire thing is repulsive.
Hello:
How can we get a Landmark Designation for the rest of the townhouses in the vicinity before we lose more to developers and buyers of property.
I’m heartbroken about the two we lost; I love architecture from that period aside from its history; once gone they can never be retrieved.
Unfortunately there is no turning back from this catastrophe and I feel for everyone affected by it. I reside on 69th street and in my building renovations are an endless, ongoing trauma that drives me nuts from the drilling and pounding
I wonder if tourturing so many people as well as animals and plants was part of a voodoo ritual. Malou is a voodoo priestess as well as her father and grandfather, so she knows the details of how to sleal life from others. Through damages to health and nerves she was attempting to steal people’s lifeforce, wealth, health, fortune… 6 years is way too many years to suffer. This place is cursed and noone is going to live there. They’ll go bankrupt over this townhome. Experiment pas reussi!
For those of you who think that Landmark status would have prevented this, hate to break it to you, but it would have done nothing. It only covers the facade, which by the way is why the facade was left on these properties because this is a historic district. There are only a handful of properties with interior protections. Which I promise you none of you actually would want to deal with. So I would suggest you educate yourself.
The problem was not the demolitioning couple. The city approved the work. Without city approval there would have been no noise, no dust, no debris, no three-year sidewalk bridge, no nothing. Redirect your ire appropriately – at the ridiculously over-regulating yet non service-providing city government.
This couple operated within the city’s authorizations. You are caricaturing them as bad people when I know for a fact they are not. I think you should all let off the evil eye keeping the negative vibes in your karma as well) and shift your energy to moving on.