New York’s top 10 residential sales of 2017

Price matters.

That’s the takeaway from a look at the 10 priciest residential sales of 2017.

Like years past, the list was dominated by new developments. But 2017’s most expensive deals also included several resales with major price chops. Take the Pierre’s triplex penthouse that finally sold for $44 million after asking $125 million, and the actress Demi Moore’s triplex at the San Remo, which traded for $45 million, down from $75 million.

Overall, this year’s top 10 added up to $552.9 million in sales — a 6.8 percent jump from last year’s $517.4 million, largely due to this week’s $91.1 million deal at 432 Park Avenue.

Before that late-in-the-year sale, however, things were looking considerably less rosy thanks to the (well-documented) slowdown in the new development market. New development sales citywide are projected to hit $8.1 billion by the end of 2017, down from $9.3 billion in 2016, according to residential brokerage CityRealty. The firm also said the average new development price dropped to $4.7 million in 2017 from a record $5 million in 2016.

Still, new development buildings including 432 Park Avenue, 56 Leonard And 443 Greenwich Street logged big-ticket closings in 2017 (though, it should be noted that several of those contracts were signed several years ago). Like last year, 432 Park stood out with four of the year’s top 10 residential sales. This year’s top deal, the trio of penthouses, surpassed last year’s $87.7 million penthouse at 432 Park which is reportedly owned by Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair.

And a slew of big-ticket properties that went into contract recently could boost 2018’s numbers. Earlier this month, a buyer went into contract to pay $80 million for 12 East 69th Street, the townhouse owned by Vincent Viola, CEO of Virtu Financial and owner of the Florida Panthers who was also President Trump’s first nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Army. Sources told the Wall Street Journal the buyer paid $50.5 million for Bob Diamond’s penthouse at 15 Central Park West.

And two units at Zeckendorf Development’s 520 Park Avenue, each asking more than $70 million, went into contract in June.

Excluding any last-minute deals in 2017, here’s a rundown of this year’s top sales. The ranking is based on The Real Deal’s analysis of data from the Department of Finance, On-Line Residential and news reports.

432 Park Avenue

1. 432 Park Avenue, #92, #92B, #93B | $91.1 million

An unknown buyer stitched together three units, sprawling 11,906 square feet over the 92nd and 93rd floors of the condo tower, for $91.1 million in December. The unknown buyer had entered a contract earlier this month for the condos, which were asking a combined $120 million. The purchase price comes out to $7,651 per square foot — considerably less than other luxury pads, including ones in 432 Park, too.

2. 432 Park Avenue, #85 | $65.7 million

A mystery buyer using the name Parklight LLC rang in 2017 by shelling out $65.7 million — or $8,144 per foot — for a condo at 432 Park. The sale, which closed in January, became the building’s third-priciest to date. Besides the recently sold three-condo spread, the most expensive is the $87.7 million unit reportedly snapped up by Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair in 2016. Records show Parklight LLC went into contract on Unit 85 in 2013. The full-floor condo, which never hit the market, has five bedrooms, a library and a wood-burning fireplace.

3. 432 Park Avenue, #83 | $65.2 million

Hong Kong billionaire Lawrence Ho bet big on 432 Park — and snagged an 83rd-floor condo for $65.2 million in March 2017. Through a corporation dubbed Valor Dragon Limited, the CEO of Melco International Development went into contract on the pad in 2015. Ho — the son of legendary gambling executive Stanley Ho — is worth $1.7 billion, according to Forbes. Coincidentally, unit 83 is a bit of a gamble, according to a lawsuit filed in January, which claims the 83rd through 85th floors of the building were damaged in a flood.

15 Central Park West

4. 960 Fifth Avenue, #3AB | $55 million

Talk about underpriced: Art dealer Robert Ellsworth’s palatial co-op at 960 Fifth Avenue sold for $55 million in May — $18 million over the asking price of $35 million. The full-floor unit has 22 rooms including four bedrooms with multiple fireplaces. Ellsworth, who died in 2014, lived at the Rosario Candela-designed building for more than three decades with his longtime companion, Masahiro Hashiguchi, a Japanese chef who was the trustee of his estate. The buyer isn’t entirely clear: Carlos Alejandro Pérez Dávila, whose family controlled beer conglomerate SABMiller, was listed in records as the purchaser. But David Millstone, co-CEO of Standard Industries and his wife, Jennifer, daughter of retail mogul Samuel Heyman, were reportedly the secret buyers of the pad, the New York Post reported.

5. 50 East 69th Street | $52 million

Apollo Global Management co-founder Joshua Harris purchased the townhouse at 50 East 69th Street, listed by Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens, for $52 million.

6. 15 Central Park West, #PH40B | $50.6 million

A top executive from Chinese development firm Radiance Group snagged Bob Diamond’s $50.5 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West. Records show the buyer — listed as Senza Nome LLC — paid $50.6 million, or $9,568 per foot. Senza Nome is associated with Gongwen Dong, CFO of Radiance Property Holdings Ltd., who followed up the 15 CPW purchase by buying a $33 million pad at 432 Park. Diamond, the former CEO of Barclays, bought the condo for $37 million in 2009. The 5,278-square-foot unit has four bedrooms, a 34-foot gallery, library and eat-in kitchen.

See more 2017 year end reviews here

56 Leonard Street

7. 56 Leonard Street, #PH60 | $47.9 million

Four years after going into contract, a mystery buyer paid nearly $48 million for the priciest penthouse at Alexico Group’s 56 Leonard in Tribeca. Delaware-based Uticon Investment Holdings LLC paid $6,026 per square foot for the spread, which has four bedrooms, a library, conservatory and exercise room. The jenga-like tower has been more than a decade in the making. But after stalling during the financial crisis, Alexico brought Hines on board in 2013. Closings began in 2016.

The San Remo on the Upper West Side

8. San Remo, #2627C | $45 million

Two years after listing her triplex at the San Remo, the actress Demi Moore sold the 17-room co-op to a buyer identified in records only as M2 Trust. The $45 million price — though well below Moore’s initial asking price of $75 million — was enough to become the building’s priciest-ever deal. Moore’s ex-husband, Bruce Willis, reportedly paid $7 million for the apartment more than 25 years ago. The actress listed the property in 2015, telling the New York Times the unit was “too magnificent not to be lived in full time.”

9. 432 Park Avenue, #84B | $44.6 million

A “catastrophic flood” at 432 Park Avenue nearly derailed the deal, but tequila heir Juan Beckmann Vidal managed to close on his 84th-floor pad at 432 Park Avenue in May. In 2016, Vidal had sued Macklowe Properties and CIM Group after a flood damaged the apartment, and at the time requested his $11.6 million deposit back. Records show Vidal, whose family founded Jose Cuervo, paid around $8,227 per foot for the half-floor pad. Vidal has and his family are worth $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.

10. The Pierre, #PH | $44 million

Barbara Zweig’s triplex at the penthouse was once the city’s most expensive listing, asking $125 million in 2013. After four years and multiple price cuts, buyer 795 Properties, LLC paid just $44 million (or $3,666 per foot) for the 12,000-square-foot spread. The late financier Martin Zweig purchased the 16-room triplex in 1999 for $21.5 million, a record at the time. (Zweig listed it in 2004 for $70 million, but it never sold.) The pad, which spans the top three floors of the Pierre, was once the hotel’s ballroom. It has a library, four terraces and a private elevator.

433 Greenwich Street

11. 443 Greenwich Street, #PH | $43.9 million

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton scored two private parking spaces along with the $44 million penthouse at 443 Greenwich Street, the A-list magnet in Tribeca. The triplex — originally asking $54 million — hit the market last year. Spanning 8,900 square feet, it has five bedrooms and a 3,246-square-foot terrace with a plunge pool and kitchen. The star-studded 443 Greenwich, developed by Nathan Berman’s MetroLoft, has been a magnet for celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, as well as Jennifer Lawrence. “Suffice it to say, 90 percent of our buyers are household names,” Berman has said.

Correction: Due to a research error, an earlier version of this story omitted the sale of 50 East 69th Street.