Gary Barnett Snags Manhattan’s Two Priciest Contracts

Spring may have arrived in Manhattan last week, but luxury buyers remained in a state of hibernation.

Just 22 properties with asking prices of $4 million or higher went into contract in the borough last week, down from 34 the week prior, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. Still, the lull was typical for the week of Easter, which has averaged 23 luxury contracts over the past decade.

The most expensive home to find a buyer was unit 92W at Extell Development’s 217 West 57th Street, also known as Central Park Tower, with an asking price just over $19 million. Though the sponsor unit’s number implies it’s on the 92nd floor, the apartment is really on the 62nd — a tactic developer Gary Barnett has used on multiple condos in the building.

The three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom unit has nearly 12-foot-high ceilings and spans 3,000 square feet, including a 670-square-foot living room overlooking Central Park and the Hudson River. Amenities at Central Park Tower, a 1,550-foot-tall skyscraper with 179 units, encompass over 50,000 square feet. They include indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, a children’s playroom, a bar and a cigar lounge. The project was billed as the world’s tallest residential building when marketing kicked off in 2018.

Six units have closed in Central Park Tower this year, averaging a 23 percent discount off the original asking price. Closed sales have averaged nearly $5,100 per square foot, with an average unit size of 3,200 square feet. Barnett has been offering a 5 percent broker’s commission as an incentive.

Barnett’s firm also scored the second most expensive contract last week — unit 15D at Extell’s 50 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side, which had an asking price just under $12 million — up from its original ask of $10.9 million when marketing began last summer. The 3,900-square-foot unit has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. Amenities at that building include doormen, a fitness center, an indoor lap pool, an outdoor saltwater pool and jacuzzi, basketball and pickleball courts and a game room.

Of the 22 homes that went into contract last week, 15 were condos, five were co-ops and two were townhouses. The homes combined for $155.7 million in volume and had an average asking price of $7 million and a median ask of $6 million. Among them, the typical home received a 3 percent discount and spent 473 days on the market.