Lawyerly Lairs: A Wicked Awesome, $13 Million Penthouse Condo

One Boston attorney has enough free cash flow to buy the most expensive condominium ever sold in Boston -- the very best penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental Residences, on tony Boylston Street. And who is the lucky lawyer who will get to spend another seven-figure sum finishing and then furnishing this 7,000-square-foot space?

CORRECTION (7/13/11): Alas, it appears that this apartment is not a lawyerly lair. Please see this correction.

It’s time for a new installment of Lawyerly Lairs, Above the Law’s behind-the-scenes look at luxurious lawyer residences. As we close out the week that started off with the Fourth of July, it’s fitting that we turn our attention to Boston, the city some call “The Cradle of Liberty.”

Ain’t freedom grand? One Boston attorney has enough free cash flow to buy the most expensive condominium ever sold in Boston — the very best penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental Residences, on tony Boylston Street.

Let’s find out who this lawyer is, where he works — and, of course, what $13.2 million buys you in Beantown….

Here is what the Boston Globe has to say about the recent transaction:

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The prime penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental has again set a record for the most expensive condo sold in Boston, though the $13.2 million price was little more than what the sellers paid for it three years ago. And still it’s never been lived in.

The 6,829-square-foot unit, which has sweeping views of the city and more balcony and deck areas than most homes have living space, sold last month for only $100,000 more than what the seller bought it for in 2008 when the Mandarin had just opened.

Considering what has happened to the residential real estate market over the past few years, namely, double-digit percentage declines in prices for many major metropolitan areas, standing still isn’t bad.

Wilbur Development LLC bought the penthouse three years ago for about $13.1 million as an investment, after a previous buyer, a Florida real estate developer, backed out of buying it for $14 million. That buyer said the unit had too little sunlight. Wilbur first listed the property for $16.9 million in October 2008.

A price tag of $13 million sounds steep — and grows steeper when you consider this fact about the apartment:

Right now it doesn’t have a stick of furniture in it. In real estate parlance, it is “raw’’ space, empty and unfinished, as Wilbur Development bought it as an investment and never moved in.

The new owner intends to be one of the first to live there, according to [real estate agent Tracy] Campion.

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And who is the lucky lawyer who will get to spend another seven-figure sum finishing and then furnishing this 7,000-square-foot space?