Report on Contracts Signed
NYC Residential Properties
$4 Million and Above

43 Contracts Signed

Another week, another multi-year high. And I’m not talking about the stock market. Sound familiar? Well, faithful readers, it should. Those are exactly the same 2 sentences with which I led last week’s report. I guess I could have been more clever, but the numbers speak for themselves: 43 contracts were signed last week at $4 million and above, the biggest number since we started keeping track in 2007. The dollar volume of $326,738,000 was not, however, a 6-year record. There were 2 weeks in 2012 that had larger dollar volume on fewer sales.

Last week, condos outsold co-ops: 36-5, and there were 2 townhouses in the mix. The biggest contributor was 56 Leonard, where 16 contracts totaling $98.4 million were signed off floorplans, this despite being 2 to 3 years away from completion. The building is destined to be the most architecturally significant condo ever constructed in Tribeca. The architects are Pritzker Prize winners Herzog & de Meuron (Tate Modern Museum in London and Beijing Bird’s Nest). The 145-unit condo is a soaring 60-story glass sculpture that translates into a contemporary masterpiece meant to compliment the new Freedom Tower, the site of the former World Trade Center being built 10 blocks south.

The No. 1 contract of the week, however, wasn’t new construction. It was Apartment 19A at 737 Park Avenue, asking $26 million, in a building being transformed from a rental to a condo by Macklowe Properties. This 5-bedroom, 6.5-bath condominium has 5,508 square feet and a fireplace. It wraps around the corner of Park and 71st Street with a 49-foot living room and formal dining room facing one of the most important co-ops in New York: 740 Park Avenue, known for grand apartments, famous residents, and a tough co-op board, all chronicled in a book by Michael Gross.

The No. 2 contract was Apartment 42C at 1 Central Park West, asking $19.9 million, reduced by $2 million when it went on the market last May. This is a 2-bedroom, 2.5- bath unit with 4,415 square feet and sweeping views of Central Park.

NYC Luxury Tracking Scoreboard: Sales $4 Million and Above
March 4-10, 2013