Park Avenue Penthouse Tops Manhattan Luxury Sales This Week at $25 Million

The most expensive sale in Manhattan last week was a $25 million penthouse that hasn't ever been lived in and comes fully furnished with custom Italian furniture.

The triplex condo at 1110 Park Ave., a couple of blocks from Central Park, is in contract, so the final price isn't yet known. The expansive property was listed for $24,950,000 by Sotheby's International Realty in January.

According to the Olshan Realty luxury market report for the week ending Oct. 11, 25 luxury contracts (over $4 million) were signed in Manhattan, five fewer than the week before. As is typical, condos outsold co-ops (15 to 6), and one condop (a legal mix of condo and co-op) and three townhomes also went under contract.

This has been a busy fall for New York City luxury real estate, according to the report.

The 10-year historical average for the first two weeks of October is 47 luxe contracts, and yet 55 have been signed so far this month, proving that the luxury market remains strong in New York City despite the much debated pied-à-terre tax.

Park Avenue ultraluxury

It's unclear why the meticulously designed and furnished penthouse built in 2015 was never lived in, but the sponsor unit was sold in 2019 for $17.25 million. Since then, the five-bedroom triplex has been on and off the market and discounted several times.

Affluent buyers never moving into a property worth millions "is not super uncommon," says Compass-affiliated Manhattan luxury broker Michael Reisor, who is familiar with the building. "They're just buying real estate and holding it. You see it commonly in Central Park/Uptown or Billionaires Row buildings."

Douglas Elliman agent Michael Passor, who viewed the penthouse in late 2024 with clients when it was priced at $29 million, says the recent price drop likely moved the needle.

"The market is currently seeing a real lack of supply for high-end product, but doesn't necessarily mean buyers will overpay," he tells Realtor.com®. "Few apartments offer this bedroom count, so its real competition has been full townhouses rather than other condos or co-ops."

His clients instead bought a townhouse, which usually doesn't have the eye-popping monthly fees that condos and co-ops do. (The penthouse comes with $17,407 in HOA fees.)

The Park Avenue building, designed by Barry Rice Architects with interiors by Christopher Peacock, has only nine exclusive residences on 16 floors.

Reisor speculates that the owner(s) may have used the penthouse as a pied-à-terre or even just to entertain or hold business meetings.

The condo would qualify to get hit with the pied-à-terre levy given that it apparently was not the owner's primary residence and its market value is more than $5 million. While the surcharge has been put on pause, the deadline for submitting an exemption application is Oct. 13.

The effective surcharge rate for a condo valued above $5 million is 6.5% through 2028.

The decade-old penthouse does an impressive job appearing prewar, with 14-foot ceilings boasting elaborate crown moldings, hardwood floors in elegant patterns such as herringbone, dark wood-paneled walls in a sitting room and wine room, hexagonal tile in the bathrooms, and two gas fireplaces with antique-style mantels.

The penthouse has plenty of room to spread out over three floors, measuring 7,000 square feet. The property offers lots of opportunity to entertain outdoors with a 1,600-square-foot private rooftop that boasts an outdoor kitchen, gas fireplace, and sweeping views of the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park.

But that's not all. The roof has an unusual perk for a New York City condo: a newly added private "endless" swimming pool. It features jet spray that continuously pushes against the swimmer, allowing the person to do laps without ever having to turn around.

More fresh air can be had via the many balconies, including a 221-square-foot balcony off the living room and nine Juliette balconies throughout the rest of the condo.

Another unusual feature of the property is that it is fully furnished with custom high-end Italian furniture, including from designers Roberto Cavalli and Gianfranco Ferre.

The classically designed living space comes with all the ultramodern amenities one would expect at this price point, including an elite security system with motion, glass, and door sensors and a "savant operating" or smart home system. High-grade finishes include Waterworks fixtures, Gaggenau and Wolf appliances, and chandeliers from Swarovski and Baccarat Paris.

Reisor speculates that the condo may have been recently snapped up by a family. Not only does the triplex come with an unusual five bedrooms, but Carnegie Hill offers close proximity to several elite prep schools.

Nearby is Spence, the all-girls private school with many well-known alumni, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and where annual tuition runs a hefty $71,000. Also mere blocks away is the Nightingale-Bamford School. Author and alumnus Cecily von Ziegesar based her popular "Gossip Girl" novels on her time there.

"Carnegie Hill has a very village-y feel," the agent tells Realtor.com. "It's calm. This listing is right on the park, so even if the sellers never lived there, they probably thought about living there."

As for unloading the abode meticulously furnished, the agent guesses that the sellers may have used the property occasionally or got the ball rolling on interior design right after the sale, then never moved in.

"They may have wanted it to accommodate them if they ever did decide to live there," he says. "Usually, when an owner acquires something like this, they put everything in motion. They hire the designer, they say, 'Just do it like all my other residences.' They probably use the same designer for everything."

Listing agent Eva Penson did not return a request for more information on the property.

West Village history

The second-highest contract of the week couldn't be more different: a 6,031-square-foot historical townhouse built in 1867 at 67 Charles St. in the popular West Village.

The asking price of $22.5 million shows a $2.5 million shave.

"It's a highly desirable location," listing agent Jim St. Andre with Compass tells Realtor.com.

The townhome is on the quiet, tree-flanked Charles Street between more bustling Bleecker Street and West 4th Street.

"It's surrounded by beautiful single-family townhomes with gardens connecting to gardens in other single-family townhomes," he says. "It's ideally situated. Really special."

The four-story, four-bedroom, 20-foot-wide, single-family townhome was gut-renovated in 2010. The addition of floor-to-ceiling glass doors allows for seamless indoor-outdoor living, while original details such as moldings and an elevator serving every floor were updated.

A coveted private garden with mature trees plus a roof terrace boasting a surround daybed and pergola allow for outdoor entertaining and offer impressive Empire State Building views.