Manhattan Luxury Contracts Roar Through September

It was a condo craze in the Manhattan luxury market last week, but the top billing went to a co-op in one of the city’s premier buildings.

Condos racked up 21 contracts over $4 million, well above the four co-op deals and two townhouse signings from Sept. 16 to Sept. 22, according to data from Olshan Realty.

The total of 27 contracts is up from just eight signed in the same week last year. There have already been 96 luxury contracts signed in Manhattan this month, nearly doubling last September’s output with a full week still to go.

The top contract went to Unit 12 in 960 Fifth for $60 million, a discount from its original $70 million asking price when it hit the market in May 2023.

The Rosario Candela-designed unit has eight beds and seven bathrooms, along with a living room, dining room and library that all face Central Park.

The seller is the estate of oil heiress Anne Hendricks Bass, who died in 2020.

If sold near its asking price, the apartment joins the building’s upper echelon of deals. A 2014 penthouse sold for $70 million in 2014 held the record for most expensive co-op sold in the city for just three months before being overtaken by a duplex at 740 Park Avenue that sold for $71.3 million.

Built in 1928, the building includes a private restaurant, rooftop fitness center and rooftop terrace among its amenities.

Compass’ Alexa Lambert had the listing.

The second priciest contract last week went to a co-op in The Surrey Residences at 20 East 76th Street. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom apartment went into contract with a last asking price of $28 million.

The 14-unit condo building, which sits on top of The Surrey Hotel, launched sales this fall. The site is the location of the 1926 Surrey Hotel, which housed city luminaries like JFK and Bette Davis.

The Reuben Brothers property underwent a restoration by BKSK Architects. Along with the residences, which start on the 11th floor, and hotel, the building also houses private members’ club Casa Tua, the first location for the Italian restaurant and lounge in the city.

Exclusive sales are being run by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, with sales led by Lauren Muss and Michelle Griffith.

The 27 contracts combined for a total dollar volume of $276 million, median asking price of $6.5 million and average asking price of $10.2 million. Units spent an average of 573 days on the market.