2014-august-12-peter-brand-de-maria
Leonardo DiCaprio and Peter Brant.
Photo: © 2014 Patrick McMullan Company, Inc.

Just as artnet News suspected, art collector Peter Brant was the buyer of Walter De Maria’s former East Village home and studio. The Real Deal confirmed that property records filed on August 11 reveal Brant bought the four-story former Consolidated Edison substation at 421 East 6th Street property for $27 million.

Inside Walter De Maria’s former home and studio.
Photo via StreetEasy.

A $25 million listing for the property was marked as no longer being available in May, suggesting that an offer had been accepted, though rumors that Brant’s foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut, was behind the sale could not be confirmed. Following the August 11 sale, the public relations firm that represents the Brant Foundation confirmed the sale, noting that “BFAB, LLC, a Brant family entity, has purchased 421 East 6th Street.”

The interior of Walter De Maria’s recently sold 421 East 6th Street studio and home. Photo: courtesy Street Easy.

The property had been listed for $25 million. It was built in 1920 as an electrical substation, but had been decommissioned and converted into a photography studio when De Maria bought it. The famous land artist, who died in 2013 at age 77, transformed it into a sprawling live-work space. Included in the bundle is not only the 16,402-square-foot, five-bedroom studio, but also the empty lot next-door at 419 East 6th Street.