Debt-ridden France selling its UN envoy’s NY apartment for $48 million

Having initiated a sweeping cut in its expenditures, the French government has now listed the 18-room residence of its envoy to the United Nations in a prestigious New York building for sale for an asking price of $48 million, reports Reuters.

With the sale of the apartment, located at 740 Park Avenue, as well as a townhouse on Fifth Avenue, the French government aims to partly reduce its debts, which now stand at $1.9 trillion.

The building, which was once hailed as the "richest apartment building," has been home to several famous and wealthy Americans, including Jackie Kennedy, Marshall Field III and the noted financier John D. Rockefeller Jr. The real estate is also known for turning down potential celebrity buyers like Barbra Streisand and Barbara Walters.

According to the listing on the real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens, the front corner duplex apartment, located on the 12th and 13th floors of the building, includes five fireplaces and 18 rooms, including six bedrooms and seven full and one half bathrooms. The home features 38 windows that let in plenty of natural light and offer views of the city and skyline, hardwood flooring, lofted ceilings, traditional moldings and a small planting terrace. It also has a private elevator.

The property is complete with a corner living room, a south-facing library, a study overlooking Park Avenue and a spacious dining room. The duplex also has a powder room, beyond which are a big traditional kitchen, pantry, servants' hall and two maids rooms. The private quarters are situated upstairs, as are four large bedrooms with attached bathrooms, two private master suites, four additional bedrooms with attached baths and staff rooms.

Deputy press counselor for the French Embassy in the U.S., Dana Purcarescu, confirmed that the sale was part of the French foreign ministry's endeavor to supplement its revenues. She told Reuters on Thursday, "It contributes to the ministry's efforts towards more efficient management of property."

A report in CBS News says that the French foreign ministry has also listed a 16,000-square-foot townhouse, built in 1923 and located on Fifth Avenue, for sale for $32.5 million. The townhouse is among the six remaining private properties on Fifth Avenue opposite Central Park.

While the sale of these properties will not make much of a dent in reducing France's overall debt, they are likely to rank among some of the priciest real estate transactions in Manhattan, CBS News reports.