After bouncing on and off the market since 2013, and seeing more than $14 million in listing discounts, home fragrance titans Harry and Laura Slatkin have sold their 10,300-square-foot Upper East Side townhouse.
Listed for a cool $34 million in 2013, and most recently asking $19.75 million, the 18 E. 74th St. property sold for $18.75 million, according to city records filed Thursday. That marks $15.25 million below their original sale target, but a figure above the $11.72 million the couple shelled out for it in 2005, records additionally show.
The sale entered contract in June and closed just over a week ago, the deed shows. An entity named 18E74, LLC is listed in records as the buyer, with a later page of the deed showing the name Edward J. Stern printed underneath a signature. There’s also a listed Secaucus, NJ, address matching that of Hartz Capital, the investment arm of real-estate management service, the Hartz Group, Inc., whose chairman and CEO is Stern’s father, billionaire Leonard Stern. On its website, Edward Stern is listed as the founder and president of Hartz Capital.
It isn’t clear if the younger Stern — who reportedly settled complaints nearly 20 years ago brought forward by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over alleged illegal trading tactics for profits at the expense of mutual-fund investors, agreeing to pay $10 million in fines and $30 million in restitution — indeed purchased the home, or was a representative. A message seeking confirmation and comment was not returned.
The Slatkins reduced the price of their Upper East Side townhouse some three times since its 2013 debut on the luxury real estate market, according to StreetEasy. The couple launched the home-fragrance brand Slatkin & Co. in 1992. Laura later founded Nest Fragrances — and Harry launched the HomeWorx and ScentWorx collections of scented candles and bath products.
The limestone property has eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It stands seven stories tall and has a garden and an 824-square-foot rooftop terrace. Glass and wrought-iron foyer doors lead to a gallery with black and white marble tiles.
On the parlor level, a front living room with arched windows overlooks 74th Street. The primary suite spans the third floor; the fifth floor is flexible entertainment or work space and the sixth floor can sleep guests or staff.
Listing images show a grand chef’s kitchen and multiple fireplaces, per Realtor.com. The home dates to 1921.
Modlin Group’s Adam Modlin, who did not return a message seeking comment, had the listing.
