Extell sells One57 sponsor unit for $17M

Buyer's entity shares address with Colgate University professor

Extell Development’s One57.
Extell Development’s One57.

UPDATED, April 15, 2021, 6:50 p.m.: Extell Development has sold a sponsor unit at One57 for $16.8 million.

But the buyer’s identity is unclear. Records show that Colgate University professor Caroline Keating is the owner of a home in New Woodstock that shares the same address as the entity that closed the One57 deal on March 26. In an email to The Real Deal after publication, Keating said she wasn’t the new owner of the Manhattan condo, and that a buyer that she did not identify had used her residence as a temporary address.

Keating teaches seminars on social bonds, cross cultural development, nonverbal communication and other psychology-related courses, according to her university page. Beyond the classroom, Keating has discussed her research on Dateline NBC, the Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America.

The attorney representing the buyer’s entity declined to comment.

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The 4,193-square-foot condo has three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms. It features floor-to-ceiling windows that stretch at 11-feet tall and boast views of Central Park to the north and downtown to the south.

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The unit sold for 15.4 percent below its last asking price. Extell first listed the condo at about $24 million in July 2020, before it was chopped to $20 million in January. It went under contract on Feb. 2. The deal works out to $4,017 per square foot.

Compass’ Kyle Blackmon, the seller’s agent, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ultra-luxury skyscraper, which was designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc, is facing a far different market than when sales first launched. The building was once home to the most expensive sale in Manhattan, after Michael Dell purchased a penthouse for $100.5 million in 2015.

Fast forward to January 2021, and One57 set new records: A unit sold for more than 50 percent below its previous purchase price, a record resale loss at the tower. It followed a string of resale losses at the building, which Extell Chairman Gary Barnett has previously said do not represent a “real-world price.” The latest resale was sold by an estate and another three were tied to HNA Group, a once high-flying Chinese conglomerate that sold its real estate holdings in a fire sale.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from Caroline Keating.