The penthouse of Central Park Tower has been mentioned in the news a couple of times. Interestingly, many of those instances are about its enormous listing value each time the property changes hands.
Earlier this year, the news went public that an unknown buyer, an obviously wealthy one, had offered well over $100 million to possess the exquisite property. The nitty-gritty of the transaction was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on January 17, 2024.
The property, which occupies the 107th and 108th floors of the tower, boasts a considerable number of amenities. Located at 217 W. of 57th Street, the apartment enjoys a panoramic view of Central Park. It also sports seven bedrooms, spanning a living space of a little over 12,500 square feet. The ceilings are a phenomenal 30 feet off the carpet.
Extell Development’s Central Park Tower was constructed in 2014 and completed in 2022. Upon completion, the tower was sectioned into 180 apartments. The penthouse went on the market for $175 million sometime last year. However, the asking price was toned down to $149.5 million this year, probably because no one was willing to pay that much for a seven-bedroom penthouse.
After eventually giving away their prized penthouse for a bargained price of $115 million, the chairman at Extell Development, Gary Barnett, refused to reveal the buyer’s identity. He said of the penthouse, “It’s the most expensive residence we’ve ever sold.”
The penthouse sale by Extell Development is by no means the highest price in New York’s history. However, it is the first sale above the $100 million mark in the past year.
In the past, other NYC homes have dwarfed the $115 million penthouse in asking and sale price. For example, Microsoft’s top shareholder and co-founder, Paul Allen, sold two Upper East Side condo units for $101 million in 2022.
Another such phenomenal sale was by hedge funder Daniel Och in 2021. Och sold his 220 Central Park South penthouse for almost $190 million, making it the second-biggest home deal ever in NYC.
Billionaire Ken Griffin capped that record in 2019 after buying a Billionaires Row residence for roughly $238 million. Interestingly, Griffin’s 220 Central Park South property is just a stone’s throw from the Extell Development penthouse.
The only property that could have knocked off Griffin’s from the top of the NYC home sale record is also located within the Central Park Tower penthouse. In 2022, this property was listed at a humongous asking price of $250 million. The agency tried justifying this price by citing the penthouse’s three floors with a living space of over 17,500 square feet. However, the agency eventually slashed the asking price to $195 million in 2023.