Home is within sight!
Financier Matteo Del Vecchio, the Italian billionaire heir of Luxottica — the world’s largest eyewear company — is the buyer of a $5.5 million unit at the landmarked Woolworth Building.
The three-bedroom home is on the iconic building’s 45th floor. It was last asking $5.9 million.
Residences at the 792-foot-tall neo-Gothic tower begin 580 feet above street level.
Matteo is the son of Claudio Del Vecchio, who bought legendary American menswear company Brooks Brothers for $225 million in 2001.
But it became a COVID casualty, declared bankruptcy during the height of lockdown in July 2020 and was sold for $325 million to Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group.
The Del Vecchios are the second wealthiest family in Italy.
Claudio is currently listing his 1916 home at 393 Mill River Road in Muttontown, New York, for $12.5 million, as we previously reported.
Matteo bought the 2,425-square-foot unit in January, according to property records.
It features 11-foot-high ceilings, oak herringbone floors, an eat-in chef’s kitchen and a main bedroom suite with a spa-like bathroom — along with city and river views. His new neighbors will include Julie Wainwright, CEO of the RealReal who bought a $6.75 million three-bedroom condo on the 34th floor in January, 2020.
The building is now 75 percent sold.
Eight units have been signed into contract and closed for around $60 million since December, said Ken Horn, president of Alchemy Properties, which is developing the building’s tower floors.
“All of the buyers so far have been New Yorkers expect for one foreigner, who was from Australia,” Horn said.
The terracacotta and limestone building was the world’s tallest from 1913 to 1930. It also features a five story penthouse — “a castle on top of a castle,” Horn says — that first went on the market for more than $110 million in 2014.
Horn tells Gimme exclusively that it will re-launch in the next month or so following a redesign. Building amenities include a gym, wine cellar and tasting room, pool, bike storage and a lounge.