By:  Benyamin Davidsons

A penthouse at Extell Development’s Central Park Tower on Billionaires’ Row has entered contract for sale at the price of roughly $115 million.  As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the duplex home was first listed last year asking $175 million.  Most recently it was listed asking $149.5 million, per listings website StreetEasy. “It’s the most expensive residence we’ve ever sold,” said Gary Barnett founder of Extell Development.  The exact price has not yet been published and the buyer has not been identified.  The home was listed with Extell Marketing Group and Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.  Kent Wu, John Gomes and Fredrik Eklund of Douglas Elliman found the buyer. Gomes declined to reveal the identity of the purchaser, only divulging that the buyer is international. “It’s a great indication of the health of this market,” he said. “Buyers with that kind of money want to be in New York City.”

The sold penthouse apartment encompasses the coveted tower’s 107th and 108th floors, offering roughly 12,560 square feet of space, per the WSJ.  The home boasts seven bedrooms and two terraces. Barnett said the residence has close to 30-foot ceilings with windows throughout affording breathtaking views of Central Park and of New York City.

The 131-floor skyscraper at 225 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan is lauded as the tallest residential building in the world, rising 1,550 feet into the sky.  The tower features 179 exclusive condos, as well as a seven-story Nordstom, opened in 2019, encompassing 320,000-square-feet of space at the base of the building.  The skyscraper, completed in 2021, had cost $3 billion to build.  It boasts a Lalique lobby, illuminated by a monumental chandelier with 2,000 pieces of crystal.  Amenities include a roughly 50,000 square foot Central Park Club, including a 60-foot-long outdoor swimming pool, cabana deck, spa, a double-height windowed sports court and private park.

There is also a residents’ lounge with billiards and a screening room, the poolside Terrace Bar, and a private restaurant on top, which is the highest ballroom ever built in NYC.  The high-tech fitness center features coaches, trainers and restorative treatments.  Developer Extell had tapped Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and Robert Forest for the building’s architecture.  Two-bedroom units at the tower start at $6.5 million, per StreetEasy.  In late 2022, Central Park Tower had listed a top penthouse with an asking price of $250 million.  “We’ve brought it down to a more reasonable ask of $195 million,” Barnett said. “And hopefully that will be our next record sale.”

The recent sale falls short of the record breaking most expensive home in the country– purchased for $240 million at 220 Central Park on Billionaires’ Row by hedge-funder Ken Griffin in 2019.  Still, the recent sale is a note of optimism, as the Big Apple hasn’t had a sale over $100 million in longer than a year.  Per the WSJ, NYC has fallen behind other markets in terms of nine-figure sales.  The last oversized deal was in 2022, when the estate of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, sold off two apartments on the Upper East Side for $101 million combined.  Before that, in late 2021, billionaire investor Daniel Och sold a Manhattan penthouse overlooking Central Park for close to $190 million.  By contrast, Florida and California have seen more of the mega sales recently.