It’s bonus season, so we’re trying to keep up with how Goldman Sachs employees are spending their taxpayer-financed windfalls. Today’s entries: A $6 million penthouse condo, and adding a new floor to the upper-east-side historical landmark in which you live. Every Goldman Sachs employee knows that right about now is when the bonuses arrive, and even though this year’s take will be heavily weighted toward restricted stock, some Goldmanites are already putting your tax dollars to good use! Take Goldman managing director Henry Cornell, who serves as the chief operating officer of the merchant banking division —he’s adding a new floor to his upper-east-side townhouse (that’s a lovely side view from the plans above). In Decemeber, Cornell filed his plans to add new windows to his E. 80th St. townhouse, which he purchased in 2000 for $11.5 million, with New York’s Department of Finance. To judge by the permits Cornell has sought from the Buildings Department, it’s going to be an extensive renovation. This permit , issued just three weeks ago, calls for the “demolition of 4th floor to accomodate [sic] new 5th floor” and “excavation of cellar and crawl space for ne [sic] sub cellar.” It’s a pity that Cornell wants to “demolish” his own fourth floor, seeing as how his house was designated a historical landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Committee in 1967 due to its ” elegant simplicity…fine proportions, and attractive relationship of the windows to the house as a whole .” [pdf] We don’t know how much this will cost, of course, but we doubt Cornell will spare any expense. He’s also busy launching the Henry Cornell Winery in Santa Rosa, Calif., which he plans to build on land he’s purchased several parcels at a time over the past decade for a total of $8 million. In November, Cornell filed plans with the state of California [pdf] to turn the land into a winery with an 8,000 square-foot cave as a cellar. (So we’d imagine that new “sub cellar” in the Manhattan townhouse may be to accommodate his wine collection.) Cornell’s neighbors have objected to his plans , though, claiming that a new winery (does Northern California need another one?) will disrupt animal habitats and foul up a local creek. Anyway, that’s what Henry Cornell is spending his bonus on: A new floor, a wine cellar, and a California winery. Your living the dream, Henry. Congratulations! Cornell’s colleague Jonathan Fine, a managing director who works on Goldman’s investment-grade syndicate desk, whatever that is, is blowing his bonus on a $6 million Greenwich St. condo in Manhattan , which he and his wife purchased in December. It’s a penthouse unit with four bedrooms, 2-and-a-half bathrooms, and an 1,100 square-foot private roof deck. We initially weren’t quite sure that the “Jonathan Howard Fine” who purchased the condo was the same one who works at Goldman, so we called to make sure. His colleague on the syndicate desk who answered the phone said Fine had called in sick that day, so we called his listed home number. A woman answered, and we heard hammering in the background—still moving in perhaps? Anyway, when we asked her if she’d just purchased the Greenwich St. condo, she referred the question to an unnamed man standing nearby. When we asked her if that was the Jonathan Fine who worked for Goldman Sachs, she said, “I’m not going to answer any of your questions.” About 20 minutes later, we got a call from a Goldman Sachs flack wondering what all the fuss was about. If you know how Cornell and Fine’s colleagues are spending their hard-earned (by taxpayers!) bonuses, do let us know .
Excerpt from:
This Goldman House: Bonus Season Means It’s Time to Add a New Floor to Your Townhouse
