Lawyerly Lairs: Aaron Charney Has Left the Building
No, not the Sullivan & Cromwell headquarters at 125 Broad Street. That happened months ago, not long after the young corporate lawyer sued his uber-prestigious employer, claiming anti-gay discrimination and retaliation by S&C.
We're referring instead to Aaron Charney's former home, a luxury apartment on the 53rd floor of the Orion -- a new, high-rise condominium on the West Side of Manhattan. We previously profiled Aaron Charney's apartment (above right) back in this post, wherein we wrote:
City records show that in late November, Charney closed on an $820,000 condominium in the fancy new Orion building, on the west side of Manhattan....Charney financed this purchase with a $656,000 mortgage -- 80 percent financing. Perfectly respectable; not overly leveraged. This means he put down about $164,000 for the purchase.
(Food for thought: Did S&C help him out with his down payment?)
Well, now Aaron Charney has gotten back all that money -- and then some. NYC records disclose that he sold his apartment last month for $972,500 (and paid off his mortgage).
So Charney flipped a property he owned briefly, just over six months, for $152,500 more than he paid for it. If you've been wondering how Aaron Charney is supporting himself these days, there's your answer (or at least part of it).
Nice work, Aaron! Even after closing costs -- we doubt he paid the full 6 percent commission (who does these days) -- he probably made a tidy profit. If Aaron Charney decides not to return to law, maybe he has a promising career in real estate.
Update / Correction: As discussed in the comments, "[h]e'll have to pay both the NY 'flip tax' and federal capital gains tax because he held it for such a short period." So maybe he's not making as much of a killing as we originally thought.
Further Update: Detailed tax analysis here.
More details about Aaron's pad, including text and images from the real estate listing, after the jump.
Here's a table showing Aaron Charney's recent New York City real estate transactions (information that's publicly available, for free and online, via ACRIS -- so no privacy violation here):
Here a link to the listing for Charney's apartment. And here's the text and some images (in case the listing gets pulled -- which we're guessing will happen very soon after this post goes up).
Stunning one bedroom on the 53rd Floor of Orion- the hottest building on Manhattan's West Side. The view all the way down to the Statue of Liberty, over Downtown Manhattan, the Met Life and Empire State Buildings is truly jaw-dropping. Featuring a large open kitchen by Valcucine with granite counters and Bosch stainless steal appliances, there's also a beautiful bathroom with Waterworks fixtures and mosaic tiles by Anne Sachs, custom designed closets, washer/ dryer and an extra-large bedroom.Building amenities are second to none and include full-time doormen and concierge, VIP concierge services by Abigail Michaels, residents' lounge with free breakfast, screening room and an amazing 8,000 square foot gym by La Palestra which boasts a lap pool, hot tub, sauna, yoga room and sun decks. Amazingly low common charges and a 421(a) tax abatement are the icing on the cake for this spectacular apartment!
Some pictures (in addition to the living room photo at the top of this post):
Observant readers may recognize the bed linens, which made an appearance in the New York magazine photo spread.
When you're a Biglaw associate, your kitchen is immaculate. Why bother cooking, when there's SeamlessWeb?
Generally we've been impressed by Aaron Charney's interior decorating skills. But what the heck is that hideous thing over the toilet?
So... Does anyone know where Aaron will be moving to?
350 West 42nd Street, Apt. 53F [Corcoran]
Earlier: Lawyerly Lairs: Aaron Charney's De-Luxe Apartment in the Sky-y-y
(44) Comments
Woo-hoo!
yes
wow, who cares
aaron has good taste
He'll have to pay both the NY "flip tax" and federal capital gains tax because he held it for such a short period.
I have to say, the kid has nice taste.
how much is the NY flip tax?
This is awesome - nice find, Lat.
2:23, good points. He can't exclude it b/c he didn't own it for two and a half years (or whatever it is now).
How much are those taxes?
Nice kitchen.
The quick sale is not a good sign for Aaron. It could mean that he is hard up for cash.
Flip tax is I believe 1% or 1.5% (can't recall). Kicks in if you sell w/in one year of buying. Federal tax kicks in if you sell w/in 2 years of buying, 15% of gains. So Charney stands to pay about 25G in taxes.
Of course he has good taste- hes' a homosexual!
i think federal capital gains is 15-20%, to avoid must live in residence for 2 of the last 5 years; only applies to principal residence; if meet 2 year requirement then exemption only up to 250k for single taxpayer or 500k for joint filers
yea, real strapped for cash....he's buying a 900k bachelor pad!
wowee.
I have a question: I live out of town but have lots of close family and friends living in NYC so I understand very well the NYC market and what you get for your money there - BUT - is it really reasonable for a single 4th yr associate at Biglaw to live in a place like this? Do the other (single) NYC Biglaw people on this board live in similar places?
I myself would probably be a little more frugal personally, but I am interested to know what others think. I would be a little wary of putting $146K of my savings down and taking on a $4000-$4500 monthly mortgage payment knowing that there are no guarantees in life or, as an associate, your career, or if I was, say, planning on filing a lawsuit against my employer....
It seems like Aaron's place was nicer/more expensive than the average Biglaw associate of his seniority (he was a fourth year when he left).
Isn't his family rich? Maybe he had some help too?
And before anyone responds - yes, I understand he made a nice little profit, but I am just talking about affordability. With all things being equal and with the real estate market historically being somewhat upredictable.....
One thing to keep in mind is that ABC comes from money (based on the earlier posts about his family business).
So he probably has no student loans. That frees up some cash for a nice apartment and fancy furniture.
As a current Columbia student, I can assure everyone that Columbia is not cheap. If ABC got to go to Columbia on his parents' dime, he is a lucky bastard! :-) I'll be living in a shoebox thanks to my debt load....
maybe he's in the poor-house now and will be paying legal bills with the profit
Maybe a little sexual harassment is worth it if you're living there?
2:48, I would assume his lawyers are taking the case on a contigency-fee basis.
But maybe he has to pay for his own experts (like an expert to say that "bend over" = gay slur).
If those are pics of his apartment, his artwork in the living room, bathroom is rather strange. The thing in the living room looks like a big game of tetris.
These are definitely pics of his apartment. Compare them to the photographs of ABC at home from that New York magazine profile.
$1,000,000 for one bedroom. I heart NY.
Been hammered to death and I'm happy to point out again that NY is dirty, overpriced, filled with trash, greasy people with greasy chests and gold chains, stupid accents, no class, etc etc ad nauseum.
WGWAG has won me over...
WHITE GIRLS WITH ASIAN GUYS
I hate low flow toilets.
Only has to pay federal cap gains tax if he doesn't buy another home.
Everyone is sooo messed up about what the cap gains exclusion is for homes. There is no longer the rollover exlcusion--that went away in '97. There is a $250/$500 (married filing jointly) cap on the exclusion which requires 2 years occupancy in the last five years.
However, there is a reduced exclusion for certain circumstances. ABC probably satisfies the circumstances and, having lived in the place for 212 days would get an exclusion of ($250*212/730)=about $72,600. He also gets to deduct all of the selling expenses (so, say $40k). Thus, he owes CG tax on only about $40k in gain.
Of course, that's short-term gain, so it's taxed at the OI rate, which, if ABC had no other 2007 income (doubtful) would be subject to differing rates of 10, 15 and 25%.
If he'd held it for a year, then he would get cap gains rates of 5 and 15, but then he'd also get half of the $250k exclusion, and with closing costs, not owe any tax.
I'm not a tax guy, but I know all this. I am embarassed for the profeesion by you n00bs. Hope you're all litigators.
3:44...explain that further please
What is this fascination with Aaron Charney? Why is Lat continually focused on him? I think I'm in the middle of a story that I'm only starting to vaguely grasp.
With the salary increases all happening in the last year or so, his apartment definitely seems a little high. While I carry some debt, there is no way I would be able to spend that much on a condo, a 450K mtg was cutting it close....
where is the washer/dryer?
Will anyone pay me to write a SA memo on the tax consequences of his sale?
Question Presented........
Aaron Charney is an ATL celebrity, someone that Lat develops a strange fixation on.
Other ATL celebrities:
-- Nina Totenberg
-- Shanetta Cutlar
-- Monica Goodling
-- Alexandra Korry
(I'm noticing a pattern here. Divas and gay men.)
Can anyone give me a ballpark of what real estate taxes and condo fees would come to on a $1,000,000 condo in Manhattan similar to this one?
3:44 - not necessarily true that don't have to pay cap gains if buys a new home. In order to defer - not avoid - those gains, he would have to fulfill the requirements of 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. Not an easy thing to do. And it seems that he didn't purchase a new home from Lat's post anyways.
6:13 - about $1000/month. But also depends if they got a 421 abatement, which they seem to have gotten. So if they hadn't, could be higher, could be a little lower, but 1,000l is "ballpark."
4:43
He used to do the same thing at WLRK- especially developing fixations on opposing counsels. It's just one of Lat's many quirks.
I'm starting to warm up to ole' Charney...I dunno, I think he's kinda sexy!
The tax analyses above omit NYS & NYC capital gains tax, probably around 10% in this situation.