R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe Puts New York Loft on the Market for $10.95 Million

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe has put his loft in New York's always-trendy SoHo neighborhood up for sale with an asking price of $10.95 million. The singer, who has turned his artistic focus to sculpture since R.E.M. called it a day last year, is looking for a new place in downtown NYC where he can focus solely on sculpting. "I wake up in the morning thinking of sculpture, not lyrics," he tells the Wall Street Journal. "Lyrics are too hard."

Stipe's current pad is a three-bedroom duplex penthouse live/work property converted from a former industrial warehouse, featuring a light-flooded central atrium and glass doors opening out onto a 2,500-square-foot terrace overlooking the Hudson River. Not too shabby, eh? Did we mention the kitchen was designed by celebrity chef Mario Batali? "We have a lot of chef friends," explains Stipe.

He paid $5.75 million for it in 2007, taking it off the hands of actor Casey Affleck. Stipe and his partner Thomas Dozol, a photographer and silk-screen artist, say the are looking to move because they want to live in a space separate from their artistic endeavors. Check out a slideshow of his current space here.

R.E.M. announced their breakup last September, six months after releasing what turned out to be their final album, 'Collapse Into Now.'