Is the Storied River House Co-op Finally Loosening Up a Little?

June 10, 2014 — An immense, 14-room duplex apartment in the River House co-op in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood has finally gone into contract after nearly 25 years of uncertainty, The Wall Street Journal reports. The 5,000-square-foot apartment was first caught int the middle of the 18-year divorce proceedings between Arlene Farkas, the current seller, and her ex-husband Bruce Farkas, heir to the now-defunct Alexander's department-store chain. For a half-dozen years after that, the apartment was listed unsuccessfully from a high of $15 million to the $7.8 million that brokers told the Journal was the recent sale price.

The sale is emblematic of a change in River House's market history, which despite a purchase in November by the actress Uma Thurman has been lackluster in recent years, for reasons including the co-op board's reputation for being difficult. That may be changing: Last year, the board briefly put the 1931 building's private River Club space on the market as a private residence, but instead reached a deal with the club under which residents are automatically invited to join. (Subscription required, or you can read an abstract, with several photos, at Curbed.NY.com.)