Exclusive | NYC townhouse with Herms-leather walls once aimed to smash a sales record now its back on the market for $70M

A grand Upper East Side townhouse that, in 2016, aimed to fetch a princely $84.5 million has re-entered Manhattan’s luxury sales market — though for less of a price.The newly renovated 8 E.62nd St., a 14,825-square-foot property formerly owned by Somerset Partners CEO Keith Rubenstein, now asks $70 million, according to a Monday update on StreetEasy.Nearly a decade ago, Rubenstein listed the townhouse for that higher sum, which if sold for that asking price would have broken a townhouse sales record by many millions.

At the time, the 2006 deal for the Upper East Side’s Harkness House — a $53 million transaction — still held the crown.Ultimately, Rubenstein saw the residence bounce on and off the market until 2022, when it entered contract for “nearly” $50 million, according to reports at the time.City records now show the limestone property traded hands for $48 million that September — with the buyer, now its seller, listed as an anonymous LLC.In the years following Rubenstein’s $84.5 million listing, billionaire Len Blavatnik purchased the commercially zoned townhouse at 19 E.

64th St.for a breathtaking $90 million.

That was in 2018 — and, in 2024, a double-wide residential townhouse in Greenwich Village sold for $72.5 million off-market.Those superlative figures still appear to stand.For $70 million, a deep-pocketed buyer can purchase this newly listed six-bedroom property that dates to 1903 — and one designed by the architect of Grant’s Tomb, John H.

Duncan.Its listing images show a home with palatial proportions — large fireplaces, a sweeping marble staircase, 17-foot ceilings and oversize entryways among the perks.The listing additionally details touches that include original malachite mosaic flooring, an eat-in kitchen that looks out to a courtyard garden and a primary suite that spans the entire third floor.

What’s more, there’s also a formal dining room whose view corridor extends to the Pierre Hotel, according to the listi...