A decade after developer Harry Macklowe acquired the site for 432 Park Avenue, sales at the supertall condo tower dominated 2016’s top residential deals.
Six of the building’s ultra-luxe pads were among this year’s 10 priciest closed sales — including the building’s $87.7 million penthouse, which closed in September. The spate of big-ticket deals at 432 Park can be attributed to the fact that three years after sales launched, developers Macklowe Properties and CIM Group finally obtained a certificate of occupancy in late November 2015, allowing buyers to close on their purchases.
Overall, the top 10 sales of 2016 accounted for $517.4 million in deals, an 8 percent drop from last year, when the aggregate sale price of the 10 priciest pads was $565 million.
This year’s drop isn’t too surprising given the widespread softening in the high-end market.
Even at Rafael Vinoly-designed 432 Park, buyers who signed contracts and closed on their units this year received an average discount of 10 percent, according to a recent analysis by real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
Barring any deals at the 11th hour, this year’s priciest transaction also falls short of last year’s biggest purchase, when an investor group led by hedge funder Bill Ackman shelled out $91.5 million for a penthouse at One57. But with several other ostentatious pads on the market — the 12,000-square-foot apartment listed for $96 million at 834 Fifth Ave comes to mind — anything could happen.
Here’s how this year’s top closed sales stack up. Keep in mind that the closed sale prices in property records do not reflect so-called price concessions, which are indicated on a separate rider and are not publicly recorded. So some of these buyers on the list below may have paid less than the prices indicated.
View from the Penthouse at 432 Park Avenue
1. 432 Park Avenue, PH 96 | $87.7 million
Three years after going into contract, Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair reportedly closed on the highest — and priciest — pad at Harry Macklowe’s stratospheric 432 Park Avenue. In September, Al Hokair shelled out $87.7 million, or over $10,600 per foot, for the 8,255-square-foot aerie. In an unusual move, co-developer CIM provided a $56 million money mortgage to acquire the unit, which was asking $95 million. The penthouse features a wood-burning fireplace and the building’s signature 10-foot-by-10-foot windows.
2. 432 Park Avenue, Unit 88 | $60.9 million
Lew Sanders, the former CEO of asset manager AllianceBernstein, forked over $60.89 million — or just under $7,600 per square foot — for one of the priciest penthouses at 432 Park. The five-bedroom, 8,055-square-foot pad, one of the last full-floor units in the building, was first listed in May 2014 for $76.5 million, or $9,497 per square foot. Sanders retired from AllianceBernstein in 2008 and now runs his own money-management firm, Sanders Capital, which claims to have $20 billion in assets under management.
3. 432 Park, Unit 79 | $59.1 million
In June, a Los Angeles-based corporation, 432 Crotona Park Avenue LLC, plopped down $59.1 million for a full-floor spread on the 79th floor, property records show. The buyer paid roughly $7,337 per foot for the apartment, a combination of two half-floor units that together span more than 8,000 square feet.
4. 4 East 66th Street, 5 | $52 million
Hedge funder Chase Coleman III parted with $52 million in July to expand his den at 4 East 66th Street, paying a premium over the co-op’s $48 million asking price. The Tiger Global Management head and his wife bought the fifth-floor pad from Gracie Capital’s Daniel Nir and his wife, Jill Braufman, who paid $29 million for the 15-room apartment in 2007. They listed the apartment for $48 million last year. The Colemans already live in the building, having spent $36.5 million in 2007 for two apartments on the sixth floor that were once owned by Veronica Hearst.
5. 212 West 18th Street, PH2 | $45 million
Talk about a workout: LA Fitness CEO Louis Welch sold his Walker Tower penthouse for $45 million in June, two years after picking up the Chelsea pad for $40 million. According to brokers in the building, the unit wasn’t even listed for sale when the mystery buyer — identified as Walker Tower 1-8 LLC — came out of the woodwork, paying $6,678 per square foot for the pad. Welch paid just over $6,044 per foot for the five-bedroom condo, which has 360-degree views and three wood-burning fireplaces. The 47-unit tower served as an office for Verizon before JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group converted it to high-end condos.
6. 432 Park Avenue, Unit 64A | $44.8 million
Bennett LeBow, chairman of Douglas Elliman’s parent company, Vector Group, made a big splash at 432 Park this year — dropping $44.8 million on a 64th-floor pad. LeBow bought the full-floor condo in April, joining partner Howard Lorber, who bought a half-floor unit on the 67th floor. LeBow paid roughly $5,562 per square foot for his digs, several floors below Lorber.
7. 432 Park Avenue, Unit 82B | $43.3 million
At $43.4 million, 432 Park’s Unit 82B was one of the year’s priciest sales — but the condo is just one of two units the mystery buyer picked up for a combined $62 million. Property records show that buyer Blessings Investments also paid $18.6 million for Unit 82A, giving the LLC a full floor at Macklowe and CIM’s ritzy tower. The larger condo, Unit 82B, spans 5,421 square feet and was not publicly marketed. The smaller unit, with 2,633 square feet, was listed for $21.5 million.
The Baccarat Penthouse
8. 33 East 74th Street | $42.8 million
Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev jumped into the megamansion game this year, dropping $42.8 million on the 10,000-square-foot Atterbury Mansion at 33 East 74th Street, which he planned to combine with a smaller unit to make an even bigger spread. Kuzmichev, head of Russia’s Alfa Bank, closed on the townhouse in May, when he also shelled out $15.5 million for a 3,800-square-foot condo in the adjacent Whitney Condos, a 10-unit building developed by Daniel Straus. But Kuzmichev has since had a change of heart: In September, he listed the quadplex for $44 million.
9. 20 West 53rd Street, PH | $42.6 million
A mystery buyer paid $42.6 million for the penthouse at the Baccarat Hotel & Residences — a nearly 30 percent discount from the condo’s original price. The buyer — identified in public records as PH 20 West 53rd LLC — snagged the condo in July for $5,771 per square foot. The 7,381-square-foot duplex, with five bedrooms and five baths, was originally asking $60 million when it hit the market in August 2015. Developers Starwood Capital Group and Tribeca Associates later cut the price to $54 million. According to the developers, there are only two unsold units left in the 60-unit building.
10. 432 Park Avenue, Unit 77B | $39.2 million
A mystery buyer paid $39.2 million in July for a casa in the sky at Macklowe and CIM’s 432 Park. According to public records, a corporation known as Residencia LLC closed on Unit 77B, paying $7,242 per square foot for the four-bedroom, five-bathroom condo spanning 5,421 square feet.