$40m townhouse sale sets new record for Manhattan.

Tamir Sapir, principal of the Sapir Organization and Zar Realty Management, has bought the landmark Duke Semans mansion, located at 1099 Fifth Avenue, for $40 million, making it the highest priced townhouse sale ever in Manhattan.

It was also the last available single-family residence on the one-time Millionaire's Row.

The original asking price of the Beaux-Arts mansion was $50 million. Until now, the 20,000 s/f, eight-story mansion has remained in the possession its original owners, the Duke family, heir to the American Tobacco Company, since they bought the house in 1901. Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, the current head of the Duke family, put the mansion on the market in April 2005.

According to Sharon Baum, senior vice president and director of the exclusive property division at Corcoran, the Duke family decided now was an opportune time to sell because the family is spread throughout the country and can no longer occupy the house.

Baum, along with Paula Del Nunzio and Shirley Mueller of Brown Harris Stevens, was hired to handle the mansion's sale. Sapir was represented by Jed Garfield of Leslie J. Garfield & Associates.

Sapir, who immigrated to the United States from Georgia 30 years ago, reportedly plans on renovating the first five floors of the mansion in prder to publicly display his collection of European Ivory as well as his friends' collections of Faberge eggs and paintings.

Although there is currently a tenant leasing the penthouse, Sapir is contemplating a move into the space himself after the lease expires.

Currently, a doctor's office is located in the basement. Prior to the sale, real estate experts estimated that renovations to the building could cost $10 million, especially if the tenant was interested in restoring the mansion to a single-family residence.

Musician, Lenny Kravitz, was reported to be considering buying the mansion, however, that deal fell through this past fall. According to Baum, the mansion saw over 40 potential buyers, ranging from governments and consulates to other famous musicians and movie stars.

The Duke Semans mansion, located just across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, features 11 marble fireplaces, two outdoor terraces with views of Central Park, seven bedrooms, three elevators, a brass-and-wrought-iron staircase and a mansard roof.

Though this is the highest sale of a Manhattan townhouse, it fails short of the most expensive residential sale in the history of the city by a few million. Daniel Loeb, a hedge fund manager, signed a contract last fall to buy a penthouse at 15 Central Park West for $45 million. The complex, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, will be completed in 2007.