Sky-high condo, record-high price

Just because there's a recession doesn't mean that people aren't buying million-dollar homes.

Make that a $7.678 million condo, the one on the 46th floor at the Residences at Two Liberty Place that went to settlement today for the highest price ever paid for a Philadelphia condominium, Realtors in the city agree.

Five thousand, eight hundred fifty square feet of over-the-top luxury, this sky-high dwelling offers 2,040 square feet of balcony providing an unobstructed view of Center City and, on a clear day, more than 25 miles beyond in any direction.

Two Liberty Place officials would not disclose the name of the buyer. "We would prefer the names of our purchasers not be released, if at all possible," said sales and marketing director Stephen Calandrino.

But real estate insiders said the buyer was media mogul H. Chase Lenfest, chairman and CEO of Lenfest Enterprises L.L.C., of West Chester, son of philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest.

The record sale price is likely to stand only a few weeks, Calandrino said, because the rest of the 46th floor will soon belong to someone else paying a "few hundred thousand more."

That unit, with amenities tailored to the buyer and views equally spectacular, has been sold to millionaire Tom Knox, the former mayoral candidate, real estate insiders said.

Lenfest's $7-million-plus unit was unavailable for inspection without the owner's invitation. When you spend that kind of money at Two Liberty, however, you get four bedrooms, including a master with steam shower and Jacuzzi tub; entertainment space with a fireplace and a wet bar; a custom gourmet kitchen; and hand-finished walnut flooring, among other fine touches.

Even more features than musician Richie Sambora's nearly 2,600-square-foot pad on the 52d floor, which cost $2.5 million - $3 million-plus with the furniture, Calandrino said.

Sambora's place is open to prospective buyers at Two Liberty - he's letting the sales staff use the place as a model until all the remaining units are spoken for, and then he'll move in, Calandrino said.

Of course, Bon Jovi's lead guitarist is no longer Two Liberty's best-known celebrity buyer. Now commanding that status is Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, who was chatting with Calandrino in the Two Liberty lobby at midday after being cleared by his doctors to return, on an afternoon flight, to spring training in Clearwater, Fla.

"Just a little inflammation in my elbow," said Hamels, who will be moving in with wife Heidi in three weeks, when the Phillies come back to begin the regular season.

The couple paid more than $2.2 million for their three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom, 2,700-square-foot unit.

There are 80 condos at the Residences at Two Liberty - down from 90 as buyers combine two or more units on a floor. They range in price from $795,000 for a 1,200-square-foot, one-bedroom space to the $15 million 57th-floor penthouse.

It's a $15-million penthouse now, that is. One prospective buyer, an unidentified Brazilian businessman, would like to buy the 56th floor below it and construct a bi-level residence.

Two Liberty has been getting the record sale prices - higher numbers have been reported for other buildings, but just on agreements of sale for units not yet going to settlement. Still, it doesn't hold a monopoly on multimillion-dollar transactions.

Rittenhouse and Washington Squares have been consistently attracting those prices. Chase Utley paid almost $5 million for a bi-level condo at the Ayer overlooking Washington Square, to name one example.

There are fewer such big-ticket sales in the region now that the real estate boom has ended. But lists of top-selling properties compiled since August from transactions recorded in the eight-county area show $1-million-plus deals clustered in Center City, on the Main Line in Montgomery and Delaware Counties, in Upper Bucks County along the Delaware River, and at the Shore in Avalon and Stone Harbor.

Though less-well-heeled buyers need mortgages, Calandrino said those who purchase multimillion-dollar units that are built to suit just hand over the money.

Who are they? A few empty-nesters, "entrepreneurs" both young and established, doctors and dentists, and, naturally, celebrities.

"At first, most buyers had Center City addresses, but now we're dealing with executives relocating from the West Coast and the Midwest."

Is there a 10-year tax abatement at Two Liberty? Not to the same extent as for 100 percent ground-up construction, Calandrino said: "For those buyers with the means, they wouldn't let it stand in their way."

For the most part, we're not talking about people who have to worry about unloading the homes they now live in, are we?

"I wouldn't think so," Calandrino said.

The $7.678 million, 46th-floor condo at the Residences at Two Liberty Place offers the following to-die-for features:

SOURCE: Falcone Group L.L.C.EndText

Multimillion-dollar sales recorded with the counties since Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania, South Jersey and at the Shore:

$5.485 million: Avalon, settlement Oct. 31.

$3.415 million: Easttown, settlement Oct. 7.

$3.02 million: Lower Merion, settlement Nov. 13.

$3 million: Ocean City, settlement Dec. 12.

$2.869 million: Newtown (Delco), settlement n/a.

$2.5 million: Ocean City, settlement Nov. 25.

$2.425 million: Lower Merion, settlement Dec. 2.

$2.422 million: Solebury, settlement n/a.

$1.975 million: East Marlborough, settlement Dec. 8.

$1.843 million: Washington Sq., settlement Nov. 20.EndText