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New York

Closings kick off at Central Park Tower

Developer Extell last month lined up $380M in mezz financing for NYC’s priciest condo project

Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street and Extell president Gary Barnett
Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street and Extell president Gary Barnett (Central Park Tower via Wikipedia Commons)

UPDATED, Feb. 25, 2021, 11: 25 a.m.: Move-in day is approaching for buyers at the world’s tallest residential tower.

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development is commencing closings at Central Park Tower, the developer announced Thursday. The 179-unit project at 217 West 57th Street has a projected sellout of $4 billion, which makes it the most expensive condominium project in New York City.

The two- to eight-bedroom units range in size from 1,435 square feet to 17,500 square feet. More than 20 units are asking more than $60 million and the penthouse is asking $95 million.

As a result of oversupply, the market for luxury condos has fallen dramatically since the project was conceived. More recently, the pandemic froze the city’s sales market, though contract activity is now picking up.

Sales launched at the project in October 2018, and Extell tapped Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group in October 2020 to join the developer’s sales team as co-exclusive brokers.

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Under the terms of its $1.14 billion construction loan, Extell needed to have $500 million worth of units in contract by December 2020. That month, Barnett raised $380 million in mezzanine debt, which matures at the end of 2021 but comes with the option to extend for another 18 months. Filings on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange also indicate that the developer simultaneously modified certain sales requirements tied to the senior loan, but it wasn’t clear exactly which terms had been changed.

A representative for the developer declined to share how many units are in contract.

The 1,550-foot-tall tower, which topped out in September 2019. Extell is developing the project with SMI USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Shanghai Municipal Investment.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to better indicate the project’s timeline. 

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Central Park TowerExtell DevelopmentGary BarnettManhattan Condo Market