A two-story Soho building bought by the late John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1971 has hit the market for the first time in a half century.
The brick, bluestone and terra cotta structure at 496 Broome St. was the first residence the pair purchased together in New York City, two years before they famously moved to the Upper West Side’s Dakota, where Lennon was gunned down.
Now, more 50 years later, Ono — who has retained control of the property since buying it — and her son, Sean Ono Lennon, have listed it for sale with company JLL, for an asking price of $5.5 million, the New York Times first reported.
“The building on Broome St. was sort of like a base for their artistic ventures,” Philip Norman, author of “John Lennon: The Life,” told the publication, adding that Lennon and Yoko, now 91, also rented an apartment at 105 Bank St. at the time they bought the Broome Street building. “Bank Street was their salon, where people could just walk in.”
Built in 1885, the building has an open-format, gallery-like ground floor space with 14.4-foot-high ceilings, an open kitchen and a lofted bedroom in the rear. On the second floor there’s a live-work space and a recording studio, according to press materials.
The ground floor’s exterior is covered in panes while the upper level features four consecutive windows.
In all, it measures in at just over 3,800 square feet. Current zoning allows for the construction of three additional floors, for a total of approximately 7,500 square feet.
“496 Broome St. is both a unique piece of New York history and popular culture and a prime investment opportunity for the right buyer,” said Paul Smadbeck, who holds the listing along with fellow JLL colleague Guthrie Garvin. “Versatile zoning and its location in one of the city’s most desirable and trendsetting neighborhoods offers an exciting opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind property.”
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