John F. Kennedy Jr.’s apartment could be worth up to $2.5 million, a real-estate expert said yesterday.
Kennedy bought the loft in TriBeCa for $700,000 in January, 1994.
But Scott Durkin of the Corcoran Group Real Estate said the apartment would sell for at least $2.5 million today.
Corcoran sold a similar unit downstairs in the N. Moore Street building for $1 million last month.
But after Kennedy’s death, the price of his apartment will skyrocket above its market value – “because of Kennedy’s name” – Durkin said.
“It’s in an unremarkable building,” Durkin said. “But it has what we call ‘great bones.’ “
Durkin said the apartment’s strong suit is its durability. It once housed heavy machinery and is reinforced with steel and concrete. The interior of the penthouse has soundproofed, barrel-vaulted ceilings.
When the co-op goes on the market, Durkin said it will likely be sold in the same fashion as Jackie Onassis’ Fifth Avenue apartment – interested buyers will have to submit their net worth to the Realtor before they see the place.
This, Durkin said, will help agents avoid dealing with people who just want to gawk at JFK Jr.’s last home, but don’t have the bucks to buy it.
Estimates of JFK Jr.’s net worth have ranged from $32 million to $100 million.
If he made a will, it hasn’t yet been filed.
New York lawyer Raoul Felder said it may be possible that Kennedy never drafted one.
“Very often, young people don’t make wills,” said Felder. “They think they’re going to live forever.”
JFK Jr.’s other major assets include land on Martha’s Vineyard left to him and his sister by his mother – as well as money he made by selling her Fifth Avenue apartment and his share of the money raised when his mother’s belongings were auctioned.
Aside from his real estate holdings and cash, Kennedy did not have a tremendous amount of assets.
But, according to Bruce Wolmer, editor in chief of Art & Auction Magazine, anything that Kennedy touched could quickly turn into a marketable item.
Though the Internet site eBay has already begun to selling John-John memorabilia, Wolmer said a public auction of Kennedy’s belongings – if it happens at all- is a long way off.
“It would take some time to get over the shock of the event,” Wolmer said. “Right now, an auction would be downright ghoulish.”