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Billionaire's Row Duplex Breaks Record For Most Expensive Apartment Sold In NYC
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 17, 2015
Modified Jan 17, 2015
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Extell
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 17, 2015
Modified Jan 17, 2015
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We mentioned this in passing yesterday (because we immediately passed out from the numbers involved), but it's worth diving into the nitty-gritty: a mystery buyer has shelled out over $100 million to buy a duplex in One57, one of the luxury skyscrapers on the so-called Billionaire's Row. Let's be exact: they spent $100,471,452.77 on the apartment, making it the most expensive single-family home purchase in NYC history. The prophecy is coming true.
"This is going to set a new benchmark for real estate in New York, especially in new developments," Ben Benalloul of brokerage RLTY NYC told the News, presumably while nursing an erection spanning over 1,000 feet into the sky, possibly with a dangling crane at the tip. "I think this is a record we’re going to see broken several times over the next two years." He's not kidding around: they add that a penthouse going up at 520 Park Avenue later this year is slated to hit the market with a price tag of $130 million.
This residence takes up the top two floors (89th/90th) of the building at 157 West 57th Street; it is 11,000-square-feet, with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two powder rooms, views of Central Park, and no chance of being draped in shadows. The Post calls the mystery buyer "incredibly secretive" about their identity, probably because this person's name would be synonymous with everything everyone hates about luxury real estate in NYC (besides the Times Real Estate section, of course).
Having said that, a report from two years ago indicated that the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, might have been interested in purchasing the penthouse duplex, but there's no confirmation whether he is indeed the buyer.
It all comes to about $9,000 per square feet, which is (somehow) considered a deal; for some comparison, the average price for a unit in the building is around $6,000 a square foot. For some more comparison, you may or may not have $6,000 in your bank account right now, so you at least know what that feels like!
In case this isn't all opulent enough for you, the Daily News decided to pour some salt on the wound:
The billionaires’ fortunes will get a boost courtesy of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who intervened to make sure owners in the condo tower, called One57, could reap a generous property tax break without providing the on-site affordable housing usually required in exchange.
Affordable housing? What’s that?
Hmm, wonder why.
If your blood pressure is still somehow at normal levels, the NY Times is here to make sure it shoots through the roof.
Tagged
billionaire's row
one57
real estate
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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