Discounts dominate 2018’s top 10 resi sales

If you wanted to get a big-ticket luxury deal across the finish line in 2018, you had better offer a discount.

Amid a well-documented slowdown, developers and sponsors found common ground with buyers, leading to some spectacular deals — like James Dyson’s $74 million buy at 520 Park Avenue and Robert Smith’s $59 million purchase at the Getty, which set a new Downtown record, supplanting the $51 million sale at Walker Tower in 2014.

Like recent years, sponsor sales fetched the biggest sums. That was the case at Related Companies’ 70 Vestry Street in Tribeca and at 520 Park, where closings began in August and September, respectively. Even the priciest resales this year were located at buildings like One57 and 432 Park Avenue, which both have sponsor units up for grabs.

Although there’s been a lot of talk about a market slowdown, this year’s top 10 sales added up to $566.19 million, compared to last year’s total of $552.9 million. But that 2.4 percent uptick is still lower than the 6.8 percent jump between 2016 and 2017.

Like 2017, some of the biggest deals got done thanks to hefty price chops. Even banker Ken Moelis, who snagged a $62 million spread at 520 Park, reportedly got a heft discount off the $73 million price tag. In May, billionaire Lawrence Stroll took a $1.6 million loss on his apartment at One57 when he accepted a $54 million bid for the pad, which was one asking $70 million.

Here are 2018’s top resi deals:

1. 520 Park Avenue, DPH60 | $74 million (Originally asking: n/a)

Vacuum cleaner mogul James Dyson snapped up a $74 million penthouse at 520 Park Avenue in November — a short walk from his namesake Dyson store’s new flagship on Fifth Avenue. The billionaire’s pad spans more than 9,000 square feet and features six bedrooms and a 279-square-foot balcony.

Closings at Zeckendorf Development’s 35-unit building, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, began in September. Other reported buyers include banker Ken Moelis (see below), UFC billionaire Frank Fertitta, Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays, and PR exec Ronn Torossian.

2. 9-13 East 75th Street | $74 million (Originally asking: n/a)

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich handed his ex-wife, Dasha Zhukova, the keys to his planned megamansion for $74 million in September. The parcels, 9-15 East 75th and 225 East 73rd Street, sold for $91.4 million total, property records show.

Abramovich, who owns the English soccer team Chelsea F.C. and has a stake in steel giant Evraz, split from Zhukova last year.

The Russian billionaire spent years cobbling together the site for his megamansion; but those plans initially hit a snag with the city’s Department of Buildings and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The LPC later approved plans to combine 11, 13 and 15 East 75th into a five-story, 18,000-square-foot manse, which is reportedly under construction.

3. 432 Park Avenue, Unit 77A and 77B | $64 million (Originally asking: $68 million total)

An unknown buyer shelled out $64 million for adjacent units at 432 Park Avenue in April. The half-floor units, on the 77th floor, had been listed separately by early investors at Macklowe Properties and CIM Group’s supertall. Unit 77A, purchased for $19.6 million in 2016, was listed for $23 million. Unit 77B, purchased for $39.26 million in 2016, was listed for $45 million.

The new owner obtained a $35 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase in May, according to property records. Combined, the unit spans more than 8,000 square feet. Although the new owner didn’t file plans to combine the apartment, he or she did disclose plans to add a secondary access door to Unit 77B.

4. 520 Park Avenue, DPH52 | $62 million (Originally asking: $73 million)

Billionaire investment banker Ken Moelis closed on his $62 million penthouse at 520 Park Avenue in November — joining a cadre of ultra-wealthy buyers in the 35-unit condominium. The duplex has 9,200 square feet and a private elevator between the floors. It’s one of four duplexes at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building, which also has a $130 million triplex penthouse.

Moelis’ boutique investment bank, Moelis & Co., has advised Saudi Arabia’s government on its effort to take Aramco public, and it reportedly advised on Hilton’s $26 million sales to Blackstone in 2007. Moelis is the brother of affordable housing developer Ron Moelis, who is founder and CEO of L+M Development Partners.

5. The Getty, PH | $59.1 million (Originally asking: $50+ million*)

Robert F. Smith, CEO of San Francisco-based Vista Equity Partners, bought the $59 million penthouse at the Getty in late April — setting a new price record for Downtown Manhattan.

Smith, the first African-American chair of the Carnegie Hall board, paid just shy of $6,000 per foot for the pad, on the top floors of the High Line-hugging building designed by Peter Marino. Originally, the Getty’s top two floors were asking $50 million, according to the condo’s offering plan, but Smith stitched together a third floor to create a 10,000-square-foot spread. The triplex has 2,700 square feet of outdoor space with a private pool and two great rooms, one with 22-foot floor-to-ceiling windows.

Previously, the priciest sale Downtown was a penthouse at Walker Tower, which sold for $51 million in 2014. The Getty, at 500 West 24th Street, is being co-developed by Victor Group and Michael Shvo. Neighbors will include Blackstone Group vice chair J. Tomilson Hill, who bought the third and fourth floors for his private art museum.

6. 70 Vestry Street, PH | $56 million (Originally asking: $65 million)

Italian telecom entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia shelled out $56 million for a penthouse at 70 Vestry Street in Tribeca — snagging a $9 million discount in the process. Developer Related originally listed the condo for $65 million, which would have set a new Downtown sales record. (Instead, the bragging rights belong to the aforementioned $59 million deal at the Getty.)

The crown jewel of the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building, the penthouse has five bedrooms, a solarium, wet bar and 2,000-square-foot roof deck. Related’s chairman Stephen Ross owns a $6.9 million condo in the building, where neighbors also include film producer and director Jack Heller and power couple Tom Brady and Giesle Bündchen.

7. One57, Unit 85 | $54 million (Originally asking: $70 million)

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll took a haircut on his 85th floor condo at One57, which he sold for $54 million in May. But that was just shy of the $55.6 million he shelled out in 2014, records show. Stroll, a fashion investor who helped mastermind the Michael Kors IPO in 2011, had listed the pad for $70 million, later dropping the price to $59 million.

According to records, the mystery buyer of Stroll’s condo used a shell corporation to buy the condo, which measures 6,240 square feet.

8. 15 Central Park West | $50 million (Originally asking: $56 million)

Hong Kong beverage heiress Karen Lo struck a deal in April to buy Sting’s pad at 15 Central Park West.

The duplex, which spans 5,400-square-feet on the 16th and 17th floors, has four bedrooms and two spiral staircases. The British rock legend and his wife bought into Zeckendorf Development’s “limestone Jesus” for $26.98 million in 2008. Lo, whose family founded Vitasoy, has been snapping up pricey real estate in California and New York, where she’s trying to flip a condo at 551 West 21st Street in Chelsea condo for $36.5 million. Sting is reportedly among the buyers at 220 Central Park South, another Stern-designed building with a $250 million penthouse.

9. 443 Greenwich, Penthouse A | $43.8 million (Originally asking: $51 million)

Jet.com founder Marc Lore joined the cadre of bold-faced names at 443 Greenwich Street when he plunked down $43.79 million for a penthouse in April. But unlike most of his celebrity neighbors, the tech entrepreneur got the star treatment: a $14.2 million discount.

Lore — who sold Jet to Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016 — got 24.5 percent off the $58 million asking price, records show. (It was originally asking $51 million in 2014.)

The triplex, which spans 8,569 square feet, has five bedrooms and comes with a private, outdoor pool. Developed by Nathan Berman’s Metro Loft Management, the 1880s bookbindery has attracted the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Jake Gyllenhaal and Harry Styles.

10. 160 Leroy Street | $43.5 million (Originally asking: $51 million)
Billionaire Michael Rubin — part owner of Philadelphia’s 76ers and the New Jersey Devils — paid $43.5 million penthouse at Ian Schrager’s 160 Leroy Street in Greenwich Village. The CEO of Kynetic, the company that oversees retailers like Rue La La, closed on the apartment in July, records show.

The Herzog & de Meuron-designed building nearly had a single, grand penthouse spanning 12,000 square feet and asking between $75 million and $80 million. But the developer carved the floor into two condos in 2016 as the market began to turn.Rubin’s unit is Penthouse North, which spans 7,750 square feet and has five bedrooms and four wood-burning fireplaces. It also has a 4,944-square-foot roof terrace with a 27-foot pool and outdoor kitchen. Penthouse South, with 4,850 square feet, sold for $28 million in August.

NYC’s 10 biggest residential sales of 2018