Yahoo Finance Ex-wife of controversial Iranian ambassador lists NYC condo for $5.3M
Are you feeling royal and flush with cash?
A three-bedroom, four-bath condo in a landmarked Upper West Side castle-style building commissioned by John Jacob Astor in 1884 has hit the market for $5.3 million.
The seller, Maryam Panahy Ansary, bought it for $5.95 million in 2007.
She is the ex-wife of the controversial Iranian-born billionaire Hushang Ansary, the 96-year-old former Iranian ambassador to the United States. Ansary once headed Iran’s national oil company before resigning in 1978, just before the Islamic Revolution. He moved to Texas where he made his own oil fortune, befriended the Bush family and Henry Kissinger, and became a major Republican donor.
In November, Ansary was profiled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, following charges by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten that he had bought Ennia, a private pension fund and the Dutch Caribbean’s largest insurance company — and then allegedly drained hundreds of millions of dollars out of the pension fund and used offshore accounts to skirt his fair share of taxes.
He denies the charges.
According to the ICIJ, authorities allege that Ansary used the money “to invest in his other businesses, for private jet travel, to dispense millions in questionable payments to acquaintances and to send donations to conservative causes in the United States.” The central bank is now suing Ansary in Texas to recover the money.
The 4,146-square-foot home, at 445 Central Park West, is in the former New York Cancer Hospital. The residence boasts a circular living room with large windows, views of Central Park, a woodburning fireplace and 12-foot-high ceilings. There’s also a light-filled formal dining room and a triple-windowed, eat-in chef’s kitchen.
The main bedroom suite is also rounded and comes with two large dressing rooms and a spa-like bath. Design details include hardwood floors and four exposures.
Ms. Ansary, now 82, was married to Ansary for 30 years — and divorced for the past quarter of a century. She tells Gimme Shelter that she loved entertaining in the grand apartment, where she’d host events for up to 120 people.
“I bought the apartment when I held a lot of parties here, especially for young people. Social life has changed so much. I try to keep to the old way of socializing at home,” she said.
Now, however, the apartment has become too big, Ansary says. Even her parties are smaller — for 40 or 50 people.
Architect Charles C. Haight designed the Gothic red brick building, which comes with five round towers and a separate chapel, modeled on Renaissance castles in France’s Loire Valley. Building amenities include a David Rockwell-designed lobby, a gym, a pool, concierge service and a live-in resident manager. There’s also a children’s playroom, a common garden, a bike room and storage along with a circular driveway and an attached parking garage.
The listing broker is Bahar Tavakolian of Compass.
