The richest person in Mexico, billionaire Carlos Slim, seems to be giving it another go in his efforts to get a buyer for his huge, historical New York City townhouse. The 20,000-square-foot mansion that is nestled away on the Upper East Side was recently listed with an asking price of $80 million. Interestingly, that is the same price that he listed the property for back in 2015.
At the time, an $80 million asking price was adequate to make the townhouse the most expensive in the city, and incredibly, that is still true in 2023 too. In case Carlos Slim manages to find a buyer for $80 million, the home will then become the most expensive townhouse that was ever sold in New York City.
A record price would not be the only record held by the property. This townhouse is also the biggest such residence in the city. The “All NYC” YouTube channel recently ranked the property as the #3 most significant mansion in all of Manhattan.
Known alternatively as the Duke–Semans Mansion and the Benjamin N. and Sarah Duke House, Carlos Slim acquired this property in 2010 from the since-departed oil tycoon Tamir Sapir for $44 million. In a strange twist, this property’s official listing on Zillow appears to tell a different story:
“Not for sale. Was not sold to Carlos Slim.”
But by most usually agreed-upon accounts, Slim is the property’s owner. In any case, this listing goes ahead to describe the home itself in lofty details:
“Built in 1901 and designed by the firm of Welch, Smith, and Provot, the exceptionally grand and remarkably beautiful 1009 Fifth Avenue was constructed in the Beaux-Arts style and is rightfully regarded as an architectural tour de force. The residence stands as a splendid example of the extraordinary workmanship of that era and is one of the very few remaining along the Gold Coast of Fifth Avenue.”
Stacked high with up to eight floors and features that include “soaring ceilings, hand-carved wood paneling, lovely trompe l’oeil accents, gold-leaf trimmed fixtures, and intricate plaster friezes” together with its ten bathrooms and 25 bedrooms, it would be a stunning property even if it were not for its highly prized location.
If Carlos Slim manages to get his wish, it will soon become the most expensive townhouse in the whole city.