Nicole Kidman's NYC Penthouse

Among the perks in Nicole Kidman's new New York City apartment: Views of the Hudson River and New Jersey skyline...and a sky garage!

Nicole Kidman's already robust real estate portfolio just got a little fatter. For many years, the alabaster-skinned Oscar-winning actress leased a series of swank New York City apartments, including the SoHo penthouse that Lenny Kravitz just sold to Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. Now with a toddler in tow she and her country crooning superstar husband Keith Urban have opted to set down some expensive roots on the isle of Manhattan. According to rumours and reports the Kidman-Urban clan recently signed contracts to purchase a duplex penthouse apartment at a newly built and much ballyhooed building on the far western edge of the arty-farty and upscale Chelsea neighbourhood.

The stainless steel and terra cotta tile-clad building was designed by starchitect Annabelle Selldorf and its most famous feature is, without question, the private "sky garages." These garages are accessed by driving into a large elevator that lifts the car and its occupants up to a private single car garage space located on the same level as the car owner's deluxe digs. Fancy, right?

Property records do not yet reflect a sale price, but according to a listing seen on StreetEasy, the two-floor unit measures 3,248 square feet with three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms - and was last listed with an asking price of approximately £8 million. Each of the posh penthouse's rooms has unobstructed views of the Hudson River and the New Jersey skyline.

The Kidman-Urban apartment's primary entry is through a private elevator landing on the top floor that includes a formal living room and an über modern eat-in kitchen that can be concealed or revealed by opening or closing folding teak panels. In addition to a bedroom/study with walk-in closet and private bath, the top level of the duplex has a powder room and two large city view loggias.

A staircase descends to the lower floor where a dramatic double-height great room with two walls of floor to ceiling windows is flanked by a guest bedroom and bath on one side and the master suite on the other. (In the master suite: River views and a wall of custom-fitted closets and dressing area.) The lavish bathroom is fitted with custom-designed teak cabinetry, imported glazed lava stone counter tops from France, a separate shower and freestanding honed granite soaking tub.

Kidman and Urban, no strangers to luxe living, also own a major manse in Nashville, TN, a large contemporary crib in the same Beverly Hills neighbourhood as Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz and a 110-acre country getaway about an hour and half outside of Sydney, Australia. (They also recently acquired a penthouse apartment in the Darling Point neighbourhood overlooking the scenic Sydney Harbor.)