Surrey Residences Top Manhattan’s Luxury Contracts

A condo atop the Surrey Hotel, known for once hosting luminaries like President John F. Kennedy and Bette Davis, was home last week to Manhattan’s priciest luxury deal.

Unit 14A at 20 East 76th Street, last asking $24 million, was the priciest home to find a buyer in the borough between Oct. 14 and Oct. 20, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. The 5,000-square-foot apartment has three bedrooms, four bathrooms and a terrace.

The Surrey Residences, which include 14 condos above the 100-room hotel, have appeared on the borough’s weekly contract reports after launching sales earlier this fall. A six-bedroom unit asking $28 million found a buyer in September.

Lauren Muss and Michelle Griffith of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing are heading sales at the building. Its amenities include a concierge, spa, fitness center and rooftop terrace. The Lenox Hill building is also home to Casa Tua, a private members’ club and Italian restaurant.

The Reuben Brothers, headed by British billionaires Simon and David Reuben, bought the hotel from the Kaufman Organization in 2020 for $150 million, or a roughly 30 percent discount off asking. The hotel had filed for bankruptcy earlier that year along with its ground lease holder, Ashkenazy Acquisitions.

The second most expensive home to land a signed contract was an apartment at Related Companies’ West Chelsea development known as the Cortland. The 3,000-square-foot condo, which last asked $11 million, has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It also features a corner living room, eat-in kitchen and views of the Hudson River.

The Core Group is leading sales at 555 West 22nd Street, which includes doormen, a fitness center, golf simulator, pool and rooftop terrace among its amenities.

Sales launched at the building in June 2022, and by the end of the year, it notched 49 inked deals, earning it the title of Manhattan’s top-selling building with fewer than 200 units, according to data from Marketproof.

Buyers signed contracts for 19 homes asking $4 million or more, which was on par with the total for the same week last year. The number of deals inked last week were down from 28 in the previous period.

Of the properties, 14 were condos, four were co-ops and one was a townhouse.

The homes’ combined asking price was $144 million, which works out to an average price of $7.6 million and a median of $6.2 million. The typical home spent more than 600 days on the market and received an 8 percent discount.