Tiger Woods’ former mistress, Rachel Uchitel, is under contract to purchase a three-bedroom, three-bath condo in the Murray Hill section of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />New York City. “It is has been under contract for 5 or 6 weeks,” confirms listing agent Beth Benalloul. Uchitel is buying the property as an investment. It will not be her primary residence,” says Benalloul of the Corcoran Group.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />
The unit, last listed at $1.849 million, is in a prewar building at 77 Park Ave., a lower address on the famed boulevard, in an area hardly known for its exclusivity. Uchitel, who has already received board approval for the purchase, opted for the lower priced unit over a corner unit, which was listed for $1.995 million.
Uchitel received approximately $10 million in a settlement with Tiger Woods in exchange for staying hush-hush about the details of their alleged relationship and other things that she may have learned about the now-divorced pro golfer. That’s enough moolah to have paid cash for her pad.
So what does one get for that kind of money in lower midtown Manhattan?
Although the property is in The Griffon building with a prestigious Park Avenue address, this lower Midtown Manhattan part of the Big Apple is not as swanky as buildings with views of Central Park. In fact, it takes a walk of about 20 blocks to get to the park.
The unit Uchitel is purchasing has a wood-burning fireplace, high ceilings, a chef’s kitchen and real hardwood floors. It also has treetop views. This is a full-service building with a doorman and concierge, storage and an outdoor roof deck. Maintenance fees run around $1,600 per month, with monthly taxes at approximately $1,300. That totals close to $3,000 a month that she’ll have to shell out, assuming she will not have a mortgage.
Uchitel was recently seen in Manhattan with Dr. Drew Pinsky of “Celebrity Rehab,” a VH1 reality show that she is set to appear on this fall. She and Pinsky visited Ground Zero, where her banker fiancé went missing during the WorldTradeCenter attacks of 9/11.
Tiger Woods also was reportedly seen in a WestVillage neighborhood unloading boxes and golf clubs on his own from a double-parked BMW. However, at least one agent has said, “No way Tiger would live there” – in a run-down building, with leaky ceilings. After all, if Tiger can still afford to take out a $54.5 million extra-jumbo loan on his Florida estate to perhaps help pay his lawyers, his ex-wife and one of his mistresses, Tiger is not that desperate for that building.
