Taylor Swift buys yet another Tribeca property, spending $50M on a single block of real estate

Taylor Swift nabbed yet another Tribeca property–bringing her spending along Franklin Street to an astounding $47.7 million. The New York Post reports that she has just purchased a 3,540-square-foot unit on the second floor of 155 Franklin Street, the condo building where she already owns a duplex. The pop star paid financier Jeremy Phillips $9.75 million for it in an off-market deal. She bought her existing top-floor penthouse at 155 Franklin, which spans 8,000 square feet, from “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson in 2014 for $19.95 million. Swift then bought the $18 million townhouse next door, at 153 Franklin Street, which comes with its own paparazzi-proof garage.

Tribeca Citizen first reported the suspicion of a sale in the building to Swift, given the mysterious LLC and the fact that the apartment sold way over market value. Readers of the local website speculated on everything from Swift’s plans to connect her existing penthouse with the next door townhouse through this latest apartment (likely impossible due to DOB and condo board restrictions), to settling a lawsuit with her owners through an off-market apartment sale, to simply gaining more space within the building. Whatever the reason, Swift is no stranger to New York real estate controversy–she was sued this year for not paying the broker commission on her $18 million Tribeca townhouse.

This second-floor apartment, with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, last sold four years ago for $5.870 million. It boasts a 58-foot-long great room with high beamed ceilings, cast iron columns, a wood-burning fireplace and oak-framed windows looking out onto Franklin Street. A library, adjacent to the living area, is lined with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. And an open chef’s kitchen has a restaurant stove, large pantry, custom cabinetry, and a granite island and bar designed for entertaining.

155 Franklin has housed a number of celebrities, including Steven Soderbergh and Orlando Bloom. (Swift even “evicted” Sir Ian McKellen to move into her duplex there.) Most recently, Aziz Ansari paid $5.7 million this month to live downstairs from Swift.

RELATED:

• Aziz Ansari dropped $5.7M on this Tribeca loft right below Taylor Swift
• Taylor Swift gets sued for not paying the broker commission on her $18M Tribeca townhouse
• Taylor Swift May Be the Reason Sir Ian McKellen Got Evicted From His Tribeca Apartment

Interior photos from a 2013 listing, via Sotheby’s International Realty