By:  Serach Nissim

An Upper East Side townhouse, formerly owned by billionaire art dealer David Mugrabi is about to hit the market as a rental, asking $95,000-a-month, as reported by Gimme Shelter.

In mid-May the rare Manhattan mansion was sold for $41 million by an entity tied Mugrabi.  The seven-story home, at 12 E. 82nd street, was sold to an unnamed overseas art collector in an all-cash deal.  The 12,000 square-foot home was considered a bargain at $41 million, first having asked $52 million when listed in 2021.  The home was said to be valued at $72 million in 2018, as per court documents.  The townhouse had been purchased in 2013 by an LLC linked to Mugrabi’s father for $15 million.  Before that, it had been home to Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82.

The new buyer clearly decided to cash in by putting the prize home out for rent. The home’s listing broker is Roberto Cabrera of Brown Harris Stevens, who had also represented the unnamed buyer in the home sale.  Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group had served as broker for Mugrabi in selling the home. Neither party commented on the home’s sale or the rental listing.  The buyer’s agent, Mr. Cabrera, had only commented to say that the buyer “literally felt this house was a piece of art.”

As reported by the NY Post, the contemporary home, located between Fifth and Madison Avenue, boasts four bedrooms, a 34-foot-long living room with a fireplace and wet bar, a dining room and a double-height gallery, an impressive custom spiral staircase made entirely of one piece of Corian, a state-of-the art eat-in kitchen, a landscaped garden, and a rooftop terrace with views of the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The impeccable home’s third floor consists of the primary suite, complete with two baths, impressive closet space, a dressing room, and a leather-paneled elevator.  The home features impressive floor-to-ceiling windows and terraces on each floor.

Court documents related to Mr. Mugrabi’s his high-profile divorce from former wife Libbie Mugrabi, had previously revealed that the couple had spent several years and tens of millions of dollars gut-renovating the home.  Yahoo previously reported that up to $57 million was spent on renovations, which were overseen by starchitect Roger Ferris, and art-friendly interior design by Julie Hillman Design.  This would mean that the former couple lost money on the sale of the home.

Mr. Mugrabi, 51, is a Syrian Israeli businessman with an estimated net worth of roughly $5 billion, as of 2019. He, along with his father Jose Mugrabi and brother Alberto Mugrabi, are major collectors of Andy Warhol arts and reportedly own roughly 800 of the pop artist’s pieces– making the family the biggest private Warhol art collectors in the world.   Jose Mugrabi, who was born in Israel, reportedly made his fortune in the textile business while living in Colombia, per the Post. He had moved with his family to New York in 1982, and that’s when he began amassing the legendary art collection.

In April, the Jewish Voice reported that David Mugrabi’s  ex-wife Libbie was compelled to pay the judgment against her to the owner of the upper east side condo that is located on East 82nd Street. The monthly rent on the upscale apartment is $28,800. The Post reported that Mugrabi lived in the apartment during the Covid pandemic and did not pay expenses,