An owner looking to unload a multimillion-dollar home, in an area where such properties are the exception, might consider holding an auction…

Several such palatial estates in the Ligonier Valley recently changed hands through the services of Platinum Luxury Auctions, a Florida-based firm headed by a Western Pennsylvania native.

“We only take on about 25 to 28 transactions a year,” said Trayor Lesnock, a 2000 graduate of Washington High School who is the founder and president of Platinum. “We’re spending a significant amount of money to market those properties. We’re using a gigantic spotlight to shine on a few properties.”

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Platinum Luxury Auctions has added another noteworthy sale to its portfolio.

On January 29, the Miami-based, luxury real estate auction house held a live auction for a penthouse condominium at the Four Seasons Private Residences in downtown Miami. An audience of seven bidders vied for the property as part of a real-time bidding process held on-site, which culminated in a non-contingent sale and a closing scheduled for mid-March. Prior to being offered for luxury auction, the 70^th-floor residence had been listed for sale for nearly nine consecutive years with a collection of Miami’s top brokers, yet found no successful suitors.

While the price of the pending sale won’t be known until closing, Platinum quantified the figure as being the 5^th-highest resale in the building’s history and the 3^rd-highest resale within the past 5 years. “We just missed the 3^rd and 4^th all-time price marks by 2% and 1%, respectively,” according to David Ashcroft, Platinum’s managing director. “And after paying that price, the buyer still intends to extensively renovate the unit.”

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Platinum Luxury Auctions, a Miami-based auction firm and New York real estate broker, has reported the pending sale of a full-floor condominium in New York City’s Upper East Side, following its auction of the property on Friday, February 19^th. A total of 14 bidders registered for the no-reserve auction, which was conducted via a live, real-time bidding event held in the residence. The non-contingent sale is scheduled for a rapid closing in approximately 30 days.

The property is located at the 838 5^th Avenue building in the Lenox Hill neighborhood, and was first brought to market at $27.5 million before the seller elected to expedite the sale via Platinum’s non-distressed auction process. It’s one of only ten condominium units in the ultra-exclusive building. Occupying the entire 10^th floor, it offers a 4,500-sf interior with 3 bedrooms, 3 full and one-half baths. Its standout feature is perhaps its 46-ft wide great room with direct views of Central Park. The boutique building was converted to condominiums from a commercial space in 1999.

While pricing is confidential until the time of closing, Platinum reported the sale is an “8-figure number” that landed within its range of pre-auction predictions.

“Each bidder had plans to extensively renovate the apartment and we knew they would factor this into pricing to varying degrees, so we were pleased to see how robustly they still competed on Friday to drive the price,” said Trayor Lesnock, Platinum’s founder and president. Lesnock is also the broker of record for the sale.

Lesnock applauded his team for its work on the marketing campaign that preceded the auction.

“The exposure our team produced for the apartment – especially during this unique time in New York City – was exceptional. In only 5 weeks, the property’s webpage garnered more than 31,000 visitors, resulting in 86 formal buyer inquiries from around the world and a large, 14-bidder audience. Only 1 bidder was truly investment-minded.”

“The others were all end-users who wanted to move in,” he added.

The unique sales approach for a Manhattan property having a lofty price tag and a notable provenance – the seller is the family of the late James M. Nederlander, an iconic Broadway producer – caught the attention of various media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Barron’s/PENTA in the weeks leading up to the sale. “The family is quite market savvy and understood the value of utilizing our luxury auction platform in order to generate a date-certain, market-driven sale in New York’s changing property environment,” stated David Enriquez, Platinum’s vice president.

The buyer was represented by Whitney Didier and The Didier Team at Douglas Elliman. While his identity is also confidential, the auction house shared that he is a businessman in the property and finance sectors who primarily lives in California. He and his family plan to renovate the residence prior to occupancy.

Additional information on the sale and the property can be obtained by visiting PlatinumLuxuryAuctions.com or by contacting Platinum’s corporate office at 800.262.5132. This luxury auction® is Platinum’s second in the Big Apple. In May 2019, the firm offered a 2-story condominium for sale in the tony Beekman area of Manhattan’s Turtle Bay neighborhood.

After initially testing the market with a price tag of $27.5 million, an Upper East Side condominium with direct views of Central Park will be sold tomorrow without a price tag. At 7pm ET Friday evening, the property will be sold via a live auction without reserve, meaning the highest bidder will become the new owner – regardless of the high bid amount.

While auctions for homes at lofty price points have become more prevalent in recent years, the novelty of such a sales approach for this particular caliber of New York City real estate has garnered recent attention from both the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. The motivations behind the sale are nothing more than business as usual, however, according to Platinum’s Vice President, David Enriquez.

“The selling family has a substantial property portfolio, some of which it has begun selling in the normal course of executing its various estate plans. Expediting and ensuring a sale for this property via the luxury auction is simply one part of that larger process.”

Enriquez added that Platinum had been speaking with the sellers about the possible auction of the condominium for more than 18 months. “Years ago, we had a luxury auction outside of New York for another property owned by a member of the family, and that success planted the seed for their consideration of the auction in Manhattan,” he added.

As COVID continues to change perspectives on big city living, the auction firm stated the virus hasn’t been a prominent part of conversations with interested buyers to date. “There is relatively little ‘COVID-centric’ feedback. Buyers are instead working through their standard ‘pro and con’ property evaluation as they consider a purchase,” noted Trayor Lesnock, Platinum’s founder and President. Lesnock speculated this is in part due to the nature of the property and the type of buyer it attracts. “This condominium lives like a private home. The building’s one-unit-per-floor design and incredible location with access to Central Park creates a lifestyle that’s a very sharp contrast to that offered by so many of the newer, ‘big-box’ luxury buildings in the city today,” he added.

To be sure, the property is one of only ten condominium units in an ultra-exclusive development located on 5^th Avenue, in the Upper East Side’s Lenox Hill neighborhood. The building’s lower nine residences each occupy one, full floor, while the penthouse is a two-level duplex.

The luxury auction condominium occupies the 10^th floor, immediately below the penthouse. Its 4,500-sf interior includes 3 bedrooms, 3 full and one-half baths, in addition to a handsome library, two wood-burning fireplaces and a spectacular great room that is 46 feet wide. This sprawling living area faces 5^th Avenue, and is surrounded by a collection of windows that offer direct, panoramic views over Central Park.

The condominium conveys with a separate, studio apartment located on the building’s first floor. Ideal for guests or staff, the 300-sf unit includes a full bath, kitchenette and living/sleeping area. An additional storage unit on the building’s lowermost level also conveys with the sale.

Building amenities include full-time doormen, live-in management, security, fitness center, resident and service elevators, central air and a back-up generator.

Final property previews will be held today, February 18, by appointment. In order to participate in the auction, hopeful bidders must also register with Platinum by a deadline of 5pm ET today. Registration information can be obtained by visiting the property’s page on Platinum’s site, NewYorkLuxuryAuction.com, or by contacting its project manager, Walter Cerini, at 800.593.4177.

Manhattan Apartment Of Theater Producer James Nederlander, Once Listed For Nearly $30M, Is Going Up For Auction

The former Manhattan pied-à-terre of late theatrical producer James Nederlander, listed for $27.5 million in 2019, will be auctioned off later this week with no reserve.

The auction of #10 at 838 Fifth Ave., a condominium right by Central Park, is being held by Platinum Luxury Auctions and will take place on Feb. 19. The current listing price is $16.99 million.

The unit occupies the entire 10th floor of the limestone building, with windows overlooking the park, parquet floors and coffered ceilings. It comes with three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. A one-bedroom, one-bathroom staff apartment is located on the building’s first floor.

Read the full article by Lisa Chamoff at Forbes HERE.

A penthouse condominium at Miami’s Four Seasons Private Residences has been scheduled for sale via luxury auction® on January 29, 2021. The residence was previously asking as much as $15 million, but will now sell to the auction’s highest bidder without reserve, meaning the highest bid will prevail regardless of the price. Miami-based Platinum Luxury Auctions, a real estate auction house specializing in the non-distressed sale of multimillion-dollar properties, was hired by the property owner to manage the transaction. Platinum is also working in tandem with listing agent Techrin Hijazi of the Brown Harris Stevens Miami brokerage. Continue Reading…

The full-floor Fifth Avenue apartment of late Broadway producer James M. Nederlander is headed for auction next month without reserve, according to Platinum Luxury Auctions, which is handling the sale. Continue Reading…