UPDATED Oct. 16, 2020, 2:22 p.m.: Related Companies’ sale of a penthouse at its Zaha Hadid-designed condominium in West Chelsea may become the poster child for Manhattan’s strong buyers’ market.
The developer first listed the top-floor unit at 520 West 28th Street in 2016 for $50 million, or $7,296 per square foot. Four years later, amid a global pandemic, the 6,853-square-foot condo has sold for $20.2 million, 60 percent less than Related was initially seeking, public records show.
The buyer, Wesley Edens, chairman of private equity firm Fortress Investment Group, paid $2,947 per square foot and closed on the unit in 10 days. He purchased the unit through a Delaware limited liability company, Rock Springs Arete, but he signed the deed using his own name.
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The five-bedroom apartment overlooks the High Line and spans three levels with a 2,550 square feet of outdoor space, including a landscaped roof deck, according to the unit’s listing.
The condo was on and off the market over the past four years, with prices falling each time it reappeared. It was last asking $24.9 million. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group and Related are handling marketing and sales at the 39-residence building, and Peter Zaitzeff was the unit’s listing agent along with Corcoran Group brokers Julie Pham and Steve Gold.
Edens is one of three founders of the New York-based Fortress, which was acquired by SoftBank Group for $3.3 billion in 2017. He is also a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.
Related, Corcoran Sunshine and Peter Zaitzeff declined to comment. Fortress did not respond to request for comment.
Despite the steep discount, the deal wasn’t a wash for Related, though some could argue it’s a race to the bottom. The sale is the largest residential deal to close in the West Chelsea submarket in two years, according to The Real Deal’s analysis of data from OLR. It surpasses the previous record holder, a heavily-discounted penthouse at Walker Tower, which sold for $18.25 million in August.
The building’s other two penthouses have yet to trade, but one appeared on the market in January asking $13.95 million.
Other West Chelsea properties have absorbed major price reductions of late, including the Getty condominium and the Andres Escobar-designed townhouse at 357 West 17th Street.
Update: After publication, Pham and Gold’s involvement in the deal was confirmed.