The penthouse apartment at Central Park Tower in Manhattan is coming on the market for $250 million. SERHANT. STUDIOS
By Katherine Clarke | Wall Street Journal
When construction topped out at New York’s Central Park Tower, the Billionaires’ Row mega-tower set a record for the world’s tallest residential condominium, at 1,550 feet high. Now, developer Gary Barnett is gunning for yet another record, aiming to achieve the country’s highest-ever home sale price.
Mr. Barnett’s Extell Development is asking for $250 million for the building’s penthouse, a triplex positioned at a height of more than 1,400 feet. The listing is the most expensive in the U.S., according to the listings website Zillow, topping the $225 million listing for Michael Eisner’s California estate.
If it fetches its asking price, the Central Park Tower penthouse would be the country’s most expensive deal to date. The previous record was set when hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin paid about $238 million for a condo across the street at 220 Central Park South.
With the ultrahigh price point, Extell is hoping to tap into a growing submarket for $100 million-plus homes. A string of nine-figure deals has closed across the country over the past two years, in New York, Miami, Malibu and Palm Beach. Experts say those deals seem detached from the realities of the broader U.S. housing market, which has recently taken a tumble amid inflation, rising interest rates and recession fears.
