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The rogues’ gallery

The whale

Vornado didn’t plan a 23,000-square-foot quadplex at its trophy property, but Citadel’s Ken Griffin changed those plans. In January 2019, he set a U.S. sales record with his $240 million purchase in the building. All the more stunning? The apartment is being delivered as a white box. Griffin has amassed a $1 billion real estate portfolio over the past two years, scooping up pricey properties in Palm Beach, the Hamptons and London. He also set sales records in Miami for a $60 million penthouse, and in Chicago for a $58.75 million condo.

The celebs

Sting and Trudie Styler’s interest in 220 Central Park South was tabloid fodder for years, and the couple made it official in 2019, closing on a $65.75 million penthouse in the villa portion of the building. At 5,845 square feet, the purchase price worked out to $11,249 per square foot. Before moving into 220 Central Park South, they sold their condo at 15 Central Park West, also designed by Robert A.M. Stern, for $50 million — a nice profit on the $26.5 million they paid in 2008. 

The dealmaker

Auto dealer Michael Cantanucci was one of the building’s earliest buyers, going into contract on a duplex in March 2015. Cantanucci ultimately paid $38.2 million for the 4,814-square-foot pad in September 2019. Within two months, however, he was ready to trade it in for a unit at JDS Development’s 111 West 57th Street.

The hedgie

Billionaire Daniel Och’s move to Miami last year may have been a hedge against New York taxes, but his $92.7 million penthouse buy at 220 Central Park South was anything but. In January 2019, Och closed on the 9,800 square-foot unit, paying $9,463 per square foot. (He also bought a smaller staff unit.) Och, who founded Och-Ziff Capital Management in 1994, previously lived at 15 Central Park West. His condo there is listed with Corcoran’s Deborah Kern — coincidentally, the broker who led sales at 220 Central Park South — for $57.5 million.

The landlord

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As CEO of Paramount Group, Albert Behler has made a career out of buying and selling real estate. In 2018, he struck a deal to pay $33.5 million for a 4,148-square-foot spread at 220 Central Park South. Arriving relatively “late” to the party, Behler got a $1 million discount (or 2.9 percent) from the offering plan price. Property records show Behler previously lived at 1080 Fifth Avenue, a white-glove co-op where he spent at least $9.3 million to combine several units.

The traders

Hong Kong power couple Peter Mok Fung and Sun Min made a fortune in the trading business. And that’s just what they did in 2019, swapping a $15 million condo at 15 Central Park West for a $64.15 million pad at 220 Central Park South. Records show they went into contract on the 6,591-square-foot condo in March 2015. But two years prior, Min was convicted of insider trading and fined $3 million. Regulators said that shortly after closing on the 15 Central Park West pad, the couple bought shares in a Chinese juice company. When a rumored deal with Coca-Cola caused the stock to jump, they sold their stake and collected a windfall.

The early backer

Decades before 220 Central Park South was a blip on the radar, real estate investor David Mandelbaum wrote a $250,000 check to an unproven developer named Steve Roth. Fast-forward to 2019, when Mandelbaum’s gamble paid off; he snagged a condo at Roth’s luxury tower for $23.4 million. Mandelbaum, a longtime member of Vornado’s board, also brought his family into the fold: According to the REIT’s regulatory filings, Mandelbaum’s brother scooped up a 220 Central Park South unit for $16.1 million.

The retailer

Hardware exec Eric Smidt knows good finishes. In November 2019, the Harbor Freight Tools co-founder paid $61 million for a 47th-floor, 6,591-square-foot unit with five bedrooms. The purchase price worked out to $9,255 per foot. (He also bought a staff unit for $1.8 million.) Smidt’s estimated net worth is $4.7 billion, and he also owns a $40 million Beverly Hills estate dubbed the Knoll.

The builder

Did construction mogul Renata de Camargo Nascimento know Vornado spent $5,000 per square foot to build 220 Central Park South? If so, that could justify the $30.2 million — or $8,153 per foot — she paid for a 33rd-floor unit in January 2019. Nascimento, worth an estimated $3 billion, purchased her condo through an LLC. She went into contract in 2015, agreeing to pay above the original price of $29.65 million.