Penthouse at 50 United Nations Plaza finally finds a buyer

The crown jewel penthouse at 50 United Nations Plaza has finally found a buyer after more than a decade on the market and tens of millions in price cuts.

The Turtle Bay duplex, asking just under $40 million, was the priciest Manhattan home to land a signed contract last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. The unit, spanning the 42nd and 43rd floors, initially asked $70 million when it was marketed off of floor plans in 2013. 

The 9,700-square-foot apartment has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two staff rooms. It also features a terrace, 12-foot ceilings, views of the East River from the living and dining rooms and a 33-foot swimming pool. 

An in-house team with Zeckendorf Marketing is heading sales at the 88-unit tower developed by Zeckendorf Development and Eyal Ofer’s Global Holdings. Jessica Levine of Douglas Elliman brought the buyer.

Amenities in the building, designed by Foster + Partners, include a pool, fitness center, motor court and garage. 

The 43-story building, which opened its doors in 2015, has been home to a number of diplomats and politicians. Until 2018, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley lived at the tower, across the street from the United Nations headquarters, while she was serving as the US ambassador to the UN. 

Other buyers include the British consulate, which paid $16 million for a 38th-floor penthouse in 2019, and the consulate general of Kuwait, who bought a unit two floors up also for $16 million. The Qatari government purchased four apartments for $45 million in 2015. 

The second most expensive property to find a buyer was an apartment at 111 West 57th Street, with an asking price of $14 million. The full-floor condo spans nearly 4,500 square feet and has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

Unit 31, which was initially marketed off floor plans in 2016 with a $17 million asking price, also features a 37-foot great room and bedroom facing Central Park. The latest contract marks the eighth deal at the building to appear in Olshan’s weekly report since the start of the year. 

A cohort from Corcoran Group, which has been leading sales at the building since Feb. 2022, had the listing. 

Last month, top broker Nikki Field and her team with Sotheby’s International replaced Corcoran in sales at the 82-story tower developed by JDS Development and Property Markets Group.

Since sales launched in 2018, 33 of the building’s 60 units have closed, averaging nearly $4,200 per square foot. Amenities at the tower, which rises from the former Steinway & Sons piano store, include a fitness center, lap pool, terrace and private dining room. 

Buyers signed contracts for 20 homes in Manhattan asking $4 million or more between Aug. 12 and Aug. 18. The total was down from 21 deals inked in the previous period. Of the properties to enter contract, 17 were condos, one was a co-op and two were townhouses. 

The homes’ combined asking price was $166 million, which works out to an average price of $8.3 million and a median of $5.5 million. The typical home spent 986 days on the market and received a 21 percent discount.

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