A Real-Estate Investor’s Art-Filled New York Co-op Asks $17.7 Million—Picassos Not Included – The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Minskoff filled the 11-room property with pieces from his extensive art collection. There are roughly 20 Picassos on display, including a monkey sculpture said to be among the artist’s most important sculptural pieces, Mr. Minskoff said. There are also pieces by Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. 

Mr. Minskoff said he had the apartment specially outfitted with temperature and humidity control systems to protect the art, which isn’t included in the sale. He often also has to close the drapes, since the apartment is quite bright and the sunlight can damage the art, he said.

The apartment is accessed via a private elevator vestibule that opens into a marble-clad entrance gallery. There is a large corner living room with a wood-burning fireplace and Central Park views, a formal dining room that can seat about 20 people, and a wood-paneled library. One of the bedrooms has been transformed into a luxurious dressing room, according to listing agent Madeline Hult Elghanayan of Douglas Elliman, who is co-listing the property with Burt Savitsky of Brown Harris Stevens. 

Mr. Minskoff said that when he moved to the roughly 40-unit building, he was one of the youngest residents. While much less famous than the neighboring building at 740 Park Avenue, which is largely considered the city’s most exclusive co-op, 730 Park has drawn its own fair share of big names. Built in the late 1920s, it was once home to publishing magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., for instance. The building’s board requires purchasers to pay all cash, Ms. Elghanayan said.

Mr. Minskoff’s real-estate company, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, was founded in 1987 and has developed major New York City office buildings such as 51 Astor Place and 101 Avenue of the Americas. Mr. Minskoff said he is selling because he and his wife, Julie Minskoff, intend to move downtown to a condo project his company recently developed on Jane Street in the West Village, where he has reserved a duplex penthouse for his own use. He will be in glitzy company: Actress Jennifer Lawrence recently purchased a townhouse at the project, he said.

Mr. Minskoff also has homes in Southampton, N.Y., and in Malibu, Calif., he said.

The Manhattan market has recently posted a surge in co-op sales, with 1,938 recorded sales in the first quarter of the year, a 41.4% increase from the same period in 2021, according to a report by Douglas Elliman. The median sales price for the quarter was $825,000, up 5.8% compared with the first quarter of 2021.

Write to Katherine Clarke at Katherine.Clarke@wsj.com