Bidding war on Lake Avenue? At this deliberately-discounted price, there's sure to be

New to the market today is 555 Lake Avenue, 8 acres, 431,000 sq. ft., (the tax card shows a mere 32,000, but …) asking $39 million. “I’d recommended we price it at $399 million”, Sotheby’s Joe Barbieri told FWIW, “but (co-listing agent) Leslie McElwreath advised the owners, and they agreed, that with all the concern about affordable housing these days, they should keep it within reach of the Little People, and I see their point. Still”, he sighed wistfully, “there’ll be money left on the table, and I hate when that happens.”

Barbeiri denied that there is already a plan pending to build “Pecora Towers”, a 360-unit dormitory for the disadvantaged: “there’s been some talk of that”, he admitted, “but so far, nothing’s been set in concrete.”

Although Joe wasn’t permitted to enter the house itself — it’s a class thing — he was allowed to film the exterior, and he also personally composed the stunning soundtrack for the video below: