Extell spent $1M-plus for One57 model apartment

Extell Development has unveiled its on-site model apartment at One57 and, like just about everything related to the luxury condominium tower, it aims to set a new benchmark for residential glitz.

The 3,228-square-foot three-bedroom model at 157 West 57th Street, listed for $17.5 million, has upgrades and furnishings that would retail for about $3 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The furnishings alone cost between $500,000 and $750,000 – typically the range for a model unit’s total cost. Indeed, the original budget for the unit was $1 million, excluding artwork and labor fees. Some art galleries that loaned pieces for the unit wanted Extell to take out additional insurance because the building is still under construction. Instead, the design team used pieces from the collection of the designer, David Mann of MR Architecture + Décor, as well galleries that didn’t need extra insurance, the Journal said.

Mann went for a “fanciful, slightly over-the-top look,” he told the Journal.

Previously, Extell had tempted buyers through an off-site sales office with mock-ups of kitchens and bathrooms, as well as a wall-sized screen showing simulated views from the apartments, taken by drone-mounted cameras.

About 70 percent of the 92 units are already sold, the Journal said. Earlier this month, Pershing Square Capital’s William Ackman and a group of investors were revealed as the buyer of a 13,554-square-foot penthouse, known as the Winter Garden unit, for more than $90 million, as previously reported. [WSJ] –Mark Maurer