The asking price for a 15-room Manhattan apartment where exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui lived for years has been nearly halved since it was purchased in 2015.
Genever Holdings, the entity that owns the co-op overlooking Central Park, bought it for $67.5 million seven years ago, according to city records. Genever filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2020, while Guo filed for personal bankruptcy in February and was later denied a request to drop the proceedings because he couldn’t afford the legal costs.
Former bankruptcy Judge Melanie Cyganowski was installed to handle the sale of the apartment, which was listed on broker Serena Boardman’s website this week for $35 million, down from $45 million when it was offered in February. Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, lived at the property, which includes the entire 18th floor of the building at 781 Fifth Ave.
The listing describes the apartment as “perched high atop the prestigious Sherry-Netherland Hotel” and suited for “grand entertaining and a big lifestyle.”
The potential loss on the apartment is yet another example of the turnaround in fortunes for Chinese investors who once fueled New York’s luxury real estate market. Guo’s fall has been accompanied by legal fights. He was held in contempt earlier this year and ordered to pay $134 million to a creditor after a judge found that the businessman moved a yacht out of US waters to shield it from debt collection.
Guo, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party, sought political asylum in the US in 2017 for fear of retribution from the regime. He was also the reason the government sued former Wynn Resorts Ltd. chief Stephen Wynn in May to compel him to register as a Chinese agent. Wynn has argued he wasn’t lobbying when he told former President Donald Trump’s administration that China wanted the US to extradite Guo.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.