Buy Lenny Kravitz's Penthouse! Only $12.95 Million

[matcom]

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Calling all Soho bargain hunters: The lavish penthouse at 30 Crosby Street belonging to Lenny Kravitz is back on the market at $12.95 million, a full $1 million less than the rocker was asking for the 6,000-square-foot spread this spring.

According to real-estate sources, Mr. Kravitz, 40, was close to inking a deal after a buyer made an offer on the five-bedroom, eight-bathroom duplex, custom-designed by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, in April. Apparently, though, the deal didn’t play out, and the apartment is now being marketed with a new, discounted asking price. Mr. Kravitz’s broker, Andrea Wohl Lucas of Douglas Elliman, wouldn’t comment on whether a deal had fallen through or on what prompted Mr. Kravitz to reduce the price by $1 million.

By now, Mr. Kravitz must be used to dropping the price to lure potential buyers to his penthouse in the Loft, a former 19th-century paper factory at 30 Crosby Street, between Broome and Grand streets, which was converted into 13 loft apartments in 2000 following a $25 million renovation. The trendy building, complete with an aromatherapy lobby designed by Mr. Noriega-Ortiz, ushered in a revolving-door parade of celebrity home shoppers that included Liv Tyler, Claudia Schiffer, Rosie O’Donnell, Mike Piazza and Cindy Crawford, all of whom toured apartments there; in 2001, Ben Stiller used a third-floor model apartment as a shooting location for his fashion satire, Zoolander.

In October 2000, Mr. Kravitz bought his apartment at the Loft for $8 million, and he first listed it for $17 million in July 2002, before dropping the price to $14.95 million in 2003. Later that year, in October 2003, the four-time Grammy Award–winning musician lopped an additional $1 million off the asking price, hoping to lure a flush tenant. Now, if he does sell at $12.95 million, the buyer will score one of Manhattan’s most extravagant penthouses at nearly a 25 percent discount from its original price. (Take that, Bloomingdale’s!)

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