I spent a day on NYC's Billionaires' Row. Here's your ultimate guide to one of the city's glitziest streets, which borders Central Park and is home to the most expensive apartment ever sold in the US.
Billionaires' Row is the term for a collection of supertall luxury skyscrapers in New York City along the southern end of Central Park. The buildings are home to some of the most expensive residential real estate in the world. Some were recently finished, and others are still under construction.
These towers have seen record-breaking real-estate sales, including billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin's purchase of a $238 million penthouse earlier this year — the most expensive home ever sold in the US.
I walked around Billionaires' Row to check out eight of the newest, tallest, and most luxurious towers in New York City.
The borders of Billionaires' Row are not officially defined, but real estate agents described it to me as an area south of Central Park between 57th St. and 59th St., and between 8th Ave. and reaching as far east as 2nd Ave.
Three of the eight towers are on 57th Street, a bustling thoroughfare that includes some classic New York City destinations including the Russian Tea Room and Carnegie Hall.
I started my tour walking along 57th street from east to west. Here's a guide to the buildings you'll find on those blocks.
1. ) 111 W. 57th St., also known as "Steinway Tower."
111 W. 57th St. has been called the world's skinniest skyscraper, as its height-to-width ratio is 24:1.
Nicknamed the Steinway Tower because it sits on the site of the old Steinway Hall, the building will top out at 1,428 feet.
The 86-story tower is made up of 60 condos, most of which are full-floor residences, and includes 20,000 square feet of amenities, including a lounge with a Steinway grand piano as the centerpiece.
Active listings at 111 W. 57th St. range from $18 million for a three-bedroom to $57 million for a four-bedroom penthouse, according to StreetEasy.
The building launched sales in September 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2020.
Height: 1,428 feet
Notable buyers: Unknown
Status: Under construction, to be finished in 2020
Estimated cost of construction: $1 billion
2.) 157 W. 57th St., commonly referred to as "One 57."
One 57 was finished in 2013, topping out at 1,005 feet.
For several years, the 90-story skyscraper held a record for the most expensive home ever sold in New York City.
In 2014, a penthouse at One 57 sold for $100 million, setting the record for most expensive home ever sold in the city at the time. It wasn't until 2018 — four years later — that the buyer was revealed to be billionaire Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies.
That record was broken in 2019 when billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin bought a $238 million penthouse in another Billionaire's Row tower, 220 Central Park South (more on that later).
According to Curbed, One 57 has been nicknamed the "Billionaire Building."
Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian and billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman are both known to have bought units in the tower.
Ackman, along with a few "very good friends, "bought a $91.5 million penthouse in the building in 2012, with the intention of flipping it rather than living in it, according to Curbed.
Current listings in the tower range from $3.85 million for a one-bedroom condo to $58.5 million for a full-floor residence on the 87th floor.
Height: 1,005 feet
Notable buyers: Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian, billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman
State of completion: Completed in 2014
Estimated cost of construction: $1.25 billion
3.) 225 W. 57th St., also known as "Central Park Tower."
Central Park Tower, also called the Nordstom Tower, reached its 95th floor at the end of March 2019, surpassing 432 Park Ave. and making it the tallest residential building in New York City and — as it claims — the world. When completed, the tower will stand at 1,550 feet tall.
The first seven stories of the skyscraper will house a 285,000-square-foot Nordstrom flagship store.
The skyscraper is the priciest-ever condominium project in the US, according to The Wall Street Journal, with expected sales of more than $4 billion.
Sales in Central Park Tower launched in October 2018.
Central Park Tower is made up of 179 luxury units, 20 of which are priced at $60 million or more.
Gary Barnett, the founder of Extell Development, which is behind the building, told The Wall Street Journal in January that sales in the tower have been "decent," but no major transactions have yet been made public.
Height: 1,550 feet
Notable buyers: Unknown
Status: Under construction, to be finished in 2020
Estimated cost of construction: $1.2 billion
4.) 220 Central Park South.
220 Central Park South, designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern, sits right along Central Park on 59th Street.
The tower comprises an 18-story building called "The Villa," behind which will be the 953-foot tower with 118 luxury condos.
220 Central Park is home to the most expensive home ever sold in US history.
Sales in the 79-story building have already broken records. In January 2019, billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin bought a $238 million penthouse at 220 Central Park South, making it the most expensive home ever sold in the US.
According to StreetEasy, there are no active listing at 220 Central Park South. But three condos are listed for rent, two three-bedrooms for $59,000 a month each, and another three-bedroom going for $60,000 a month.
Height: 953 feet
Notable buyers: Ken Griffin
Status: Under construction, to be finished in 2019
Estimated cost of construction: $1.4 billion
5.) 53 W. 53rd Street.
Sales at the skyscraper, which is steps from Rockefeller Center and topped out at its full height of 1,050 feet in August 2018, have been poor, partly due to the abundance of super-luxury towers in the area, Crain's reported in February 2019.
The most expensive sale to date in the still-under-construction building just went into contract for $33.5 million, a publicist for the building told me.
53 W. 53rd St. is the southern-most tower of Billionaires Row.
Current listings range from $3.1 million up to $63.8 million for a penthouse, according to StreetEasy.
The tower, which sits adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art, is expected to welcome its first residents later in 2019. It has 145 units spread over 82 floors.
Height: 1,050 feet
Notable buyers: Unknown
Status: Under construction, to be completed by the end of 2019
Estimated cost of construction: Unknown
6.) 432 Park Ave.
432 Park Avenue, which stands at 1,396 feet, held the record for the tallest residential building in New York City until the end of March 2019, when the still-under-construction Central Park Tower surpassed it to become the tallest residential tower in the world.
The 84-story tower, developed by Harry Macklowe, currently offers listings between $11.9 million and $41 million.
432 Park Ave is home to several notable residents.
Notable buyers at 432 Park Ave. include Saudi billionaire Fawaz Alhokair, who bought a 96th-floor penthouse for $87.7 million back in 2016.
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez bought a three-bedroom condo in the building in 2018 for $15.3 million, but they put it back on the market in January 2019, less than a year after buying.
And in 2019, a penthouse previously listed at $82 million sold after being split into two separate units and given a $21 million price total price cut.
Height: 1,396 feet
Notable buyers: Saudi billionaire Fawaz Alhokair, Caryl Englander, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez
Status: Completed in 2015
Estimated cost of construction: $1.25 billion
7.) 520 Park Ave.
520 Park Avenue, another Robert A.M. Stern-designed building, is made up of 35 residences.
The 64-story limestone tower saw some major sales in 2018.
In November, vacuum cleaner and hair dryer guru James Dyson bought a $74 million, six-bedroom penthouse in the tower.
And also at the end of 2018, prominent Wall Street investment banker Ken Moelis bought a penthouse at 520 Park Ave. for $62 million.
520 Park Ave is the only of the Billionaire's Row buildings located in the Upper East Side, rather than Midtown.
Current listings include a four-bedroom unit for $20.5 million and another four-bedroom for $31 million.
Height: 780 feet
Notable buyers: James Dyson, investment banker Ken Moelis
Status: Completed in 2018
Estimated cost of construction: At least $450 million
8.) 252 E. 57th St.
252 E. 57th St. is a bit of an outlier from the rest of Billionaires' Row, when it comes to both location and height.
It tops out at only 712 feet tall, making it the shortest of the Billionaires' Row skyscrapers, and it sits farther east than any of the other towers.
But the level of luxury at the 65-floor building seem to have allowed 252 E. 57th St. to be a part of the exclusive Billionaires' Row club, with perhaps slightly lower prices.
Edward Seisdedos, a real estate broker at Compass, told me he's sold three apartments in the building totaling about $20 million.
"All of my clients saw tremendous value at 252 E 57th St. compared with everything on Billionaires' row and the entire city from 30 Park Place to Midtown and above," Seisdedos said.
Current listings in the building range from $4.45 million for a three-bedroom to $29.7 million for a penthouse, according to StreetEasy.
Steve Madden, founder of the footwear empire, bought a five-bedroom condo in the building for $12.1 million in 2017.
A full-floor, 8,139-square-foot penthouse is currently listed for $29.7 million.
Height: 712 feet
Notable buyers: Steve Madden
Status: Completed in 2016
Estimated cost of construction: Unknown
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