A boutique Manhattan condo building that drew celebrity buyers including Chelsea Clinton, NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and Jennifer Lopez also had an unlikely early investor: convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
Documents from the recently released Epstein files reveal that the disgraced, and deceased, financier quietly backed the luxury conversion of 21 E. 26th St. in NoMad, a historic property overlooking Madison Square Park later marketed as the Whitman.<\/p>\n
The five-story Neo-Georgian building was transformed into just four full-floor residences and a duplex penthouse, a design that helped lure a roster of high-profile buyers when sales launched in 2013, according to the Real Deal<\/a>, which first reported this news. <\/p>\n Behind the scenes, however, emails show developer David Mitchell offered Epstein an unusually favorable entry into the project years earlier.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Epstein quietly invested in the luxury condo conversion at 21 E. 26th St. in NoMad. Brown Harris Stevens<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is attractive because most of the risk of approvals and asbestos removal is behind,\u201d Mitchell wrote in a 2011 email pitching the deal. \u201cNo guarantees but should be good.\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein ultimately committed roughly $920,000 through a stake in the project\u2019s sponsor entity and a smaller limited-partner investment \u2014 a structure that gave him access to profits typically reserved for developers.<\/p>\n The financier appeared to move quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m closing today on your deal, with no due diligence. I am merely relying on your representations. thanks and good luck,\u201d Epstein wrote in a message to Mitchell.<\/p>\n An organization chart for the building, as seen in the Epstein files. Department of Justice<\/p>\n Jennifer Lopez purchased the penthouse unit in 2014 for $20 million. Brown Harris Stevens<\/p>\n An email exchange between Epstein and Mitchell. Department of Justice<\/p>\n Emails show Epstein even floated taking the building\u2019s penthouse instead of a profit payout.<\/p>\n \u201ci would like to do a similar soho house type deal, take the penthouse instead of profit but only if convenient,\u201d he wrote in one email reviewed by The Post.<\/p>\n Mitchell responded that the arrangement would be difficult because the deal had already closed and other investors were involved.<\/p>\n Financial projections circulating among investors at the time suggested the roughly $32 million project could generate more than $54 million in total sales, helped by a roaring Manhattan luxury market recovering after the financial crisis.<\/p>\n The units quickly found buyers once sales began.<\/p>\n Documents show developer David Mitchell offered Epstein unusually favorable terms, allowing him to buy a 30% stake in the development entity AdvanceStar for $700,000 and invest another $220,000 as a limited partner, giving him access to insider-level returns typically reserved for developers. goerie.<\/p>\n Chelsea Clinton still owns a full-floor unit in the building. GC Images<\/p>\n Gordon purchased the second-floor residence<\/a> for $10 million in 2013. He later sold the unit<\/a> in 2023 for $13.5 million, according to StreetEasy records. Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton snapped up another full-floor apartment<\/a> in the building she purchased alongside her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, for $9.25 million in 2013.<\/p>\n Mark and Chelsea\u2019s apartment \u2014 which they still own, and was once marketed as a \u201cluxury fortress\u201d \u2014 is expansive by any Manhattan standard. It has been described as one of the city\u2019s longest residences, stretching the length of an entire block. The roughly 5,000-square-foot home includes four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a powder room, along with soaring ceilings that rise more than 12 feet.<\/p>\n