New Candidate For New York's Most Expensive Apartment

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A game of "Can you top this" is developing in New York's luxury penthouse market.

Just days after a report that hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen is prepared to offer his apartment in the Bloomberg building for $115 million, the New York Times reports that finance guru Martin Zweig is going to list his penthouse for $125 million.

Mr. Zweig's 12,000 square foot sits atop the Pierre Hotel and any interested buyer will have to pay cash--the Pierre hotel doesn't allow financing.

The penthouse is "a triplex confection graced by a grand black-marble staircase, arched cathedral windows that replicate a Versailles chapel, 23-foot ceilings, and fireplaces embraced by mantels designed in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries," according to the Times.

The $125 million is the basic cost for the penthouse only--a monthly maintenance cost of $47,000 to cover electricity and staff of two will need to be figured into the budget.

Mr. Zweig set a record for New York in 1999 when he purchased the penthouse for $21.5 million in cash. The penthouse was listed for $70 million in 2005 but withdrawn in 2007.

"Because this is a one-of-a-kind penthouse, it was hard to set a price because nothing really compares," Sothebys International Realty listing broker Elizabeth Lee Sample told the Times. "I think of it, and I believe the buyer will see it, as a work of art."