Roman Abramovich buys FOURTH townhouse in a row on the Upper East Side spending over $96M on Mega Mansion (Details, pics)

Four months after his plans for a mega-mansion were finally approved by New York City, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has thrown the city for a loop by snapping up a fourth townhouse in a row on the Upper East Side.

The Russian steel tycoon originally planned to turn three townhouses at 11, 13 and 15 East 75th Street into a single 18,000-square-foot residence. On Monday, the New York Post reported that Abramovich had recently bought 9 East 75th Street as well, and now plans to use 9, 11 and 13 for his new home.

It's unclear what he plans to do with 15 East 75th Street. 'It will look better and bring a more balanced facade to the street - it will have more symmetry,' a source close to architect Stephen Wang, who is designing Abramovich's new home, told the Post.

He paid $18million for 9 East 75th Street, a 13,176-square-foot property. He bought 11 East 75th Street (9,495-square-feet) for $29.7milllion, 13 East 75th Street (8,116 square feet) for $30million and 15 East 75th Street (7,286 square feet) for $18.3million.

Abramovich's fourth townhouse is his largest so far, but not his most expensive. He bought the first three using one LLC, and the fourth using a different LLC.

The source told the Post that had the owners known that Abramovich was buying the property, 'they would have held out for higher prices'. Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea Football Club, has been in a long battle to build a mega-mansion in New York City.

In 2014, Abramovich's bid to buy the 15,000-square-foot Berwind Mansion triplex on Fifth Avenue was denied by the owner.

The following year, Abramovich started snapping up townhouses on East 75th Street, starting with 11 East 75th Street, before adding 15 and 13 to his collection. The first plans for the remodel of the three townhouses, turning them into a single family mansion, were initially denied by both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings.

The original plans called for redesigning the facades of one of the buildings so it looked like the other two. Other features architect Wang planned to add to the home were a central atrium, a dual-height art room, a pool that would nearly span the width of the three townhouses, a bidet in every bathroom and a rooftop kitchen enclosed in a greenhouse.

When those plans were rejected, the architects said they would only renovate the facades to fix any wear and tear. That plan was finally approved in June. The new plan is to 'redesign the façade of 9 East 75th Street, modify masonry openings at 11 East 75th Street; and to alter the areaways and rear facades, remove party walls, construct rooftop additions, excavate the cellars and yards, and create green walls in the rear yards.

'But now the architects will have to start all over again and present their new plans including 9 East 75th Street before the the LPC on November 14.Abramovich's latest addition to his mega mansion comes about two months after his family decreased by one.

In August, Abramovich and his wife Dasha Zhukova announced they were splitting. She is the mother of two of his seven children and their divorce could be one of the most expensive in history. Earlier this month, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio complained about wealthy Russians like Abramovich planting their roots in his city.

De Blasio said these Russians 'basically stole the wealth of their country with the help of their government' and are now using those 'ill-gotten gains' to buy a lot of property, which he called a 'problem'. Abramovich reportedly made his fortune in rigged privatized auctions.

'I don’t like it one bit. I wish I had a specific law or approach to address it. I haven’t found one yet. But, of course, it’s distressing,' de Blasio said.