A health care executive has paid $900,000 for the penthouse unit at Bloomsbury Estates, the 7-story condo project just west of downtown Raleigh.

The buyer was Joe Soto, who recently relocated from Philadelphia to the Triangle and is an executive vice president for MicroMass Communications. The Cary company provides marketing services to the health care industry.

Bloomsbury announced the sale on its blog.

The 2,400-square-foot "Virginia Woolf" unit has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

It had originally listed for $1.12 million. Even with the discount, Soto's purchase is still the most paid for a downtown Raleigh condo in more than a year.

Just 8 of Bloomsbury's 56 units have sold, according to Wake County property records. Soto's purchase early last month was the first sale in the building since June.

The project appeared to be in trouble in January when its lender, Fifth-Third Bank, filed a lawsuit in January contending that developer John Bruckel and a partner were in default on a construction loan worth more than $17 million.

But Fifth-Third later voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit, and gave new life to the project.

Bruckel has said the bank agreed to a two-year extension to give him more time to sell the condos.

Bloomsbury's 56 units feature limestone from Israel, slate from Vermont and marble from Italy. They were originally priced from $329,900 to $1.12 million but some of the smallest units have sold for as little as $211,000.