A listing photo shows the splashiest feature of the Byrons’ four-bedroom condo: views on three sides. The unit takes up the entire fourth floor.
Photo: Compass

The tech CEO caught on a Coldplay kiss cam canoodling with his HR director has just sold a flashy $5.8 million Tribeca condo in a deal that has the whiffs of a fire sale, given the speed of the transaction and the price tag.

Crain’s was first to report on the sale and writes that it “coalesced quickly.” The listing was floated around off market, a contract was signed in September, and it closed by November 6. If this doesn’t seem that fast, consider the timeline of events: July 16 was the day of the fateful concert when Chris Martin himself zeroed in on Andy Byron and HR director Kristin Cabot embracing. The fallout was quick; Byron resigned just three days later and Cabot the week after, but selling and closing on real estate is usually a monthslong, if not yearslong, matter.

Listing photos show the unit had some of the old brick from the five-story prewar walk-up that developers bought, along with air rights, and turned into a 10-story boutique condo.
Photo: Compass

That’s especially true when it comes to pricey homes in the multimillion-dollar range. In the same building, for example, a two-bedroom was on and off the market for about three years before a $4.6 million sale this spring. But the couple might have favored getting out quickly over making cash, given how much their lives have changed. While Astronomer, the tech company Byron led, is based on 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue, his wife’s job and their family home both appear to be in Massachusetts.

The listing photos show a primary bedroom with views west, down Washington Street.
Photo: Compass

This seems to be the first resale in the eight-unit building, which opened in 2022, which is also when Byron and his wife purchased their four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath, full-floor unit. They ended up getting $370,000 more than they paid three years ago, which may seem like a lot of money, but in the zany world of New York City real estate, it amounts to having “basically broken even,” per Crain’s. (Especially if you figure in taxes and common charges paid over the same period — about $81,000 a year, or $290,000 for the three and a half years they owned the property.) Their small gain of about 6.8 percent is also less than the average gain of 11 percent for units in the building, according to John Walkup at UrbanDigs. 

As for the question of whether the couple is splitting assets ahead of a divorce, gossip blogs believe Byron’s marriage is happy and healthy, and the deed lists the same address for both of them. So the quick sale might just be a classic “reversal of fortune” plot: A man at the top of the world loses his perch and retreats back home.

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