Developer Ben Shaoul could be asking more than $100 million for the penthouse at the former Verizon headquarters 140 West Street, a property he is turning into a luxury condo building. He is one in a line of developers who are bringing nine-figure units to the market.
“I have seen some exceptional apartments,” Shaoul told Crain’s when speaking about the penthouse at 140 West Street, “but I have never seen anything like this one.”
Shaoul is not the only one who is bringing units of unprecedented size and shape to the market. At least five units in other buildings will be up for sale for prices north of $100 million. The five-story penthouse at the Woolworth Building is priced at $110 million. The current city record is $88 million for a unit at 15 Central Park West.
At the Baccarat Hotel & Residences, one penthouse unit is up for grabs for $60 million, putting the premium 37 percent higher than the per-square-foot price of apartments a floor lower, according to the website. The premium was calculated by “proprietary algorithms,” an in-house broker from the Baccarat told the website.
“When you get to a certain level, the buyer pool is not worried anymore about price per square foot,” JDS Group’s Michael Stern, who developed the Walker Tower in Chelsea and other luxury projects, told Crain’s. “It’s about other things, like how exclusive and unique an apartment is.” [Crain’s] — Claire Moses