From the January issue: Even in a year marked by continued economic malaise, buyers, sellers, landlords, lenders, builders, investors and even tourists broke records in New York in 2011. Several developers last year made headway on towers that, when built, are set to surpass the highest points in the current skyline. The most notable, of course, is One World Trade Center, which will be New York’s tallest building when it reaches its full height of 1,776 feet. After the jump, see a list of the all-time highs — and lows — reached in the last year. [more]

From left: Donald Trump, president of the Trump Organization, Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, and Lois Weiss, real estate columnist for the New York Post

Compiled by Lauren Elkies

In the wake of Sandy Weill’s reported $88 million sale of his 15 Central Park West penthouse, The Real Deal wanted to touch base and see if real estate executives had any last minute predictions for the New Year since speaking with the magazine for the December residential market report.

Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, said to expect 2012 to be a bit of a repeat of 2011, while developer Donald Trump said “really good real estate will have excess value.” Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, predicts a “continuing strong demand for new condominium offerings all over town,” while Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, said “the euro will continue to be in trouble causing a flight to safety to the U.S. and particularly New York City, so New York City properties will trade at even lower cap rates.” Meanwhile, Citi Habitats President Gary Malin and Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman recently told amNY that 2012 would bring more development and fewer amenities to New York City’s real estate market. [more]

Another 15 Central Park West apartment has just hit the market for a massive $35 million, the New York Observer reported, and could break a new city record. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit, which is just 3,368 square feet, is asking $10,391 per square foot, which would set a record as the first city unit to break five-figures on a per square foot basis.

The price may be ambitious, the Observer noted, given the fact that a comparable unit on the 31st floor, 16 stories higher than unit 15B, just sold for just $24 million, or $7,563 per square foot. But listing broker Dolly Lenz, vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, may be banking on the “Weill factor” — momentum generated by the successful sale of financier Sanford Weill’s 15 Central Park West apartment for $88 million earlier this month. [more]

A new, 2,292-square-foot unit hitting the market at the Park Imperial building on 56th Street is asking $8.3 million, more than double what its owner, Los Angeles real estate finance executive David Lasaee, paid for it in 2005. The reason for the markup, according to a source with knowledge of the listing, is the rarity of high-end, park-adjacent properties on the market today.

Unit 69A, purchased for $4.1 by the Arca Advisors exec, was recently renovated and designed by social fixture, interior-design guru and wife of money manager Boykin Curry, Celerie Kemble.

“The renovation is partly influencing the price,” the source said, “but there’s also nothing left on the market. If you have an $8 million buyer who wants a view of the park, there’s nothing to show them.”
[more]

Sandy Weill and his 15 CPW penthouse

Former Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill has found a buyer for his 15 Central Park West penthouse that had an asking price of $88 million, the New York Post reported.

The prospective buyer has not yet signed a contract and his or her identity could not be revealed, but sources told the Post the buyer hails from outside the United States.

Weill bought the 6,744-square-foot penthouse with a 2,077-square-foot terrace in 2007 for $43.7 million. [more]

From left: The most expensive listing at 15 Central Park West and the cheapest at 1834 Second Avenue

The priciest Manhattan listing to hit the market this week is a four-bedroom penthouse condominium unit at 15 Central Park West, listed with Kyle Blackmon of Brown Harris Stevens for a massive $88 million. As previously reported, the apartment is owned by former Citigroup chairman and CEO Sanford Weill, who purchased the 6,744-square-foot unit in 2007 for $43.7 million. Weill has said he will donate the proceeds of the sale to charity. The least expensive Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a studio unit at 1834 Second Avenue in Yorkville. The co-op apartment, the sale of which is restricted to buyers with a maximum annual income of $30,000, is listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Barbara Gruson and Michael Baril for $99,000. Click here for these and more. – Katherine Clarke [more]

From left: Former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill and 15 CPWFormer Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill is putting his 15 Central Park West penthouse on the market for $88 million, more than twice what he paid for it in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported. Weill and his wife plan to donate the proceeds to charity and downsize to a sixth-floor apartment they own in the building.

The Weills paid $43.7 million for the 6,744-square-foot apartment in 2007, or more than $6,400 per square foot, then a record for price paid per square foot. The current price per square foot record holder is another penthouse in the building, which sold for $40 million, or $9,940 per square foot, in December 2010, according to the Journal. [more]

William Zeckendorf, co-developer of 15 Central Park West and a co-owner of Terra Holdings, parent company of Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens, has gone into contract to buy a two-bedroom, 17th-floor apartment at 740 Park Avenue, a building once owned by his grandfather, for $27 million, the New York Post reported.

The 10-room apartment is owned by video game magnate Gregory Fischbach and his wife Linda, who bought the apartment in 1994 for $6.3 million. It was once owned by John D. Rockefeller, who planned to join the unit with his duplex below but never did.

Zeckendorf has been busy maneuvering his personal real estate assets of late. [more]

From left: Kyle Blackmon of Brown Harris Stevens, the exterior of 15 Central Park West and the interior of unit

MacFarlane Partners’ Charles Berman isn’t the only CEO offloading his 15 Central Park West pad as the threat of a double-dip recession looms large. Corbett Price, chairman and CEO of Kurron Shares of America, a New York-based management, consulting and strategic advisory company specializing in the health care industry, has just listed his third-floor unit, on the same floor as Berman’s, for $8.395 million, almost double what he paid for it in 2008.

As The Real Deal previously reported, three years ago Price shelled out $4.9 million for the 1,987-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath apartment at the Robert A.M. Stern- designed two-tower building.

The unit is listed with Kyle Blackmon, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens who also helped Berman find a buyer. Blackmon declined to comment. [more]

From left: Charles Berman, 15 Central Park West exterior and Kyle Blackmon of Brown Harris Stevens and interior of unit 3A

A three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom condominium unit at 15 Central Park West has been pulled from the market after going into contract with an unidentified buyer, data from Streeteasy.com shows. The 2,909-square foot apartment is located on the third floor on the southeast corner of the uber-exclusive condo, which has become the residential building of choice for hotshot celebrities like actor Denzel Washington and musician Sting, and finance bigwigs such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Citigroup Chairman Emeritus Sanford Weill.
The condo was put on the market by another financial honcho — Charles Berman, a managing principal and vice chairman with MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment management firm in New Canaan, Conn. Berman and his wife Melanie purchased the low-floor unit, number 3A, from developer Zeckendorf Development Company in the fall of 2008 for just $6.7 million, according to public records. [more]