Sex not included: 50 shades of grey penthouse sells for $6.2m
The novel’s steamy events may be fictional, but Christian Grey’s luxury home is anything but: author E.L. James based it on the Escala building in the city’s Bellyown district, without ever even setting foot in the place.
After carrying out an online search for the ideal home for the dominant Mr. Grey, James singled out the penthouse on the 31st floor of the block of 270 condos. And the 5,170 square feet condo that sold this month has some striking similarities to the fictional home the author created. Well, except for the lack of a secret sex room. And a helicopter pad on the roof.
Ever since the books have become bestsellers, exciting readers with their detailed accounts of library spankings, breakfast bar encounters and intercourse on pianos, interest in the Escala building has significantly (ahem) peaked.
“The initial spotlight was titillating,” Bob Rennie, president of Vancouver-based Rennie Marketing Systems, told the NY Daily News. “But it wasn’t exactly the kind of attention we wanted.”
Open houses soon become full of 50 Shades fans, eager to see every inch of the apartment, while brokers Erik Mehr and Associates began to receive phone calls from people pretending to be buyers, asking in detail about “the layouts of the penthouse”.
Mehr thinks the attention is flattering.
“If you were going to pick something opulent,” he told Zillow, “This would be the building.”
All the attention climaxed this month as Ed and Cynthia Maletis signed to purchase the iconic penthouse for $6.2 million. It’s not a figure to smirk at - in fact, Mehr tells BizJournals, it’s the highest price paid for a condo in Seattle for three years.
The sale is a positive indicated for the area’s property market. The Escala was erected just as the financial crash came. As of 2010, only six of the units had been sold as buyer demand stayed limp. Attempting to arouse appetites, the developers lowered prices. Now, though, as the condo market has begun to heat up, transactions have quickened, sending pulsing racing as prices hit $479,000 for a one-bedroom condo and even $1.8 million for a three-bedroom unit.
As for Ed and Cynthia, not much is known about the couple or what they will get up to behind their penthouse’s closed doors - but thanks to E.L. James, the world has more than enough material to stimulate the imagination.