One57 resident pays $5.2M to swap 2-bed for duplex

Anonymous buyer, Extell closed the simultaneous transactions in cash

One57's unit 51B (left) and unit 32C with Extell’s Gary Barnett (One57 photos via StreetEasy)
One57's unit 51B (left) and unit 32C with Extell’s Gary Barnett (One57 photos via StreetEasy)

Home buyers are looking for more space these days, even on Billionaires’ Row.

A resident at Extell Development’s One57 just handed over $5.2 million to trade up to a bigger unit, property records show.

The unknown resident first bought into the building in 2014, the year after it opened, purchasing unit 51B, a 2,009-square-foot two-bedroom, for $7.58 million through a British Virgin Islands company, Parksville Investments Corp.

Now the anonymous owner has upgraded to a four-bedroom duplex, 32C, and sold the smaller unit back to Extell.

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At 4,635 square feet, 32C is more than double the size of the buyer’s first home in the tower. It features a dramatic, double-height living and dining room with glass walls and ceilings, akin to “a glass-encased greenhouse,” as described by a former listing agent, Douglas Elliman’s Janice Chang.

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The condo unit was seeking $17.5 million per Chang’s listing, which was live on and off in 2018 and 2019.

Parksville purchased the larger unit last month for $11.2 million while simultaneously selling the two-bedroom back to Extell for $6 million. The parties signed both contracts in mid-January and closed the transactions Feb. 11.

Trading up along Billionaires’ Row was common before the pandemic, though typically buyers would move into buildings newer than the ones they left. The One57 resident bucked that trend by upgrading within One57.

Ostensibly, both parties took a hit. Parksville sold the two-bedroom for 21 percent less than it paid, while Extell accepted 36 percent less than it had once asked for the sponsor unit — and was left with as many unsold units as before. Both deals closed in cash on the same day. (A loss on the sale of a primary residence is not tax-deductible.)

The developer declined to comment, and the attorney representing the buyer did not immediately return a request for comment.

The deal comes after a rough year of resales at One57, where Extell still has sponsor units to sell. One unit was sold at a 51 percent loss as part of an estate sale in early January, while three units tied to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group traded at steep losses last summer in sales to related parties, Extell’s Gary Barnett said at the time.