15 Central Park West still reigns as New York City’s most expensive condo

Even with a rapidly rising field of competitors, 15 Central Park West  still holds the title of New York City’s most expensive condominium, according to the just-released CityRealty100. Robert A.M. Stern’s “Limestone Jesus,” built in 2007, has many a superlative under its limestone-clad belt, but the one that puts it in the top spot tallies the eight apartments sold in the past year for an average price per square foot of $7,227. 15 Central Park West also grabbed the top three most expensive sales by PPSF, with the $50.5 million Penthouse 40B, sold by Barclay’s CEO Bob Diamond to an unnamed Chinese buyer, topping the list at $9,581/square foot.

432 Park Avenue. Rendering by DBOX

The West Midtown vanguard and subject of the scathing tell-all “House of Outrageous Fortune” was followed on the top sales list by that other billionaires’ bunker, 432 Park Avenue, which saw 45 sales in the same time period with an average price per square foot of $5,930, and by big-ticket stalwart Residences at the Mandarin Oriental with $5,215. In fourth place was Superior Ink ($4,858) followed by Walker Tower ($4,718), Time Warner Center–counted as separate from the hotel residence in the same building because of its separate address–($4,638), and One57 ($4,282).

The high-profile 432 Park Avenue, designed by Rafael Viñoly, racked up the top two individual sales, with an $65.6 million unit sold to an unnamed buyer and a $87.7M penthouse purchased by Saudi billionaire Fawaz Al Hokair.

Developed by the Zeckendorf family, 15 Central Park West has been consistently ranked in the number one spot since 2014. The building is known to be a favorite of celebrities like Sting, Robert DeNiro, Denzel Washington and Alex Rodriguez and billionaire moguls like Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev whose family purchased a penthouse in the building for its full ask of $88 million in 2011.

The 100 buildings tracked in the report showed an average price per square foot of $2,788 between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, a nine percent year-over-year increase. Despite “some softness” in the luxury condo market “these buildings in the Index have retained their value,” said Gabby Warshawer, director of research and communications at CityRealty. CityRealty projects that the average PPSF in the city’s priciest properties will continue to rise in 2018, with the average price per square foot in Manhattan’s 100 priciest condo buildings expected to top $3,000 for the first time ever.

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