Rocker Billy Corgan Finally Unloads Soho Lair for $3.81 M.- Dark-Room Intact!

Rocker Billy Corgan has finally unloaded his luxurious Soho spread for $3.81 million, according to deed-transfer records. The 4,000-square-foot apartment had lingered on the market for over one and a half years before finding a buyer in late March.

Mr. Corgan still maintains his permanent residence in Chicago, where the Smashing Pumpkins, his immensely successful alternative rock band, first took off on the local scene in 1988. He’s come a long way since then: In January 2004, he reportedly paid $6.8 million for a David Adler–designed lakefront mansion in the northern Chicago suburbs.

But unlike his palatial 18-room house on the outskirts of the windy city, the Soho pad offers no guest bedrooms for wayward rockers needing a place to crash. The loft is configured as a vast one-bedroom—stretching 65 feet! There is also a spacious adjoining master bathroom, open kitchen, dining room and living room.

The gloomy songwriter decorated his pied-à-terre according to his unique tastes: furniture in rococo shapes, chandeliers, shimmering drapes, sculptures of prancing horses, faux-finish walls and a tomato-red claw-foot tub.

"Obviously, the location was fantastic," said David Margolies, senior vice president of Fenwick-Keats Residential Brokerage, who listed the apartment with Danielle Sevier, also of Fenwick-Keats. Gloria Weber, of the Corcoran Group, represented the buyer, who outbid two other apartment seekers.

But until recently, the black-clad musician appeared to own a white elephant.

In September 2003, Mr. Corgan’s apartment landed in a far more docile real-estate market. It was listed at $4.25 million with Sotheby’s Beverly Sonnenborn, who tried to unload it over a six-month period. Then, a Fenwick-Keats broker tried to sell it by reducing the price, before the listing eventually expired.

Finally, Mr. Margolies and Ms. Sevier tried their luck. After reducing the asking price further—down to $3.55 million in early 2005—a bidding war ensued. The unusual one-bedroom finally sold at over $250,000 above the list price. Mr. Corgan reportedly paid $1.3 million for the shabby-chic loft in 1998, so the sale reaped a nice profit.

With spectacular original details, the loft features exposed brick, hardwood floors, Juliet balconies, six columns and 13-foot ceilings (ideal for the lanky musician). There are east, west and north exposures, with 16 windows for those cheerful moments when Mr. Corgan let the sunlight in.

Three late-19th-century cast-iron buildings were converted to condos shortly before Mr. Corgan arrived, and the resulting building attracted other celebrity buyers like actress Claire Danes—certainly no stranger to early 90’s ennui.

"[Mr. Corgan] had really decorated it to his taste," said Mr. Margolies. "It was a very funky, very traditional artist loft."

And for those brooding, artistic souls searching for a future home, the apartment was sold with Mr. Corgan’s darkroom intact.

Mr. Corgan is currently in Europe and unavailable for comment.