The neighborhood has some of the most expensive residences in the world. The top two floors of
One57 sold to
Michael Dell for $100.47 million in 2015, setting a record for the most expensive apartment ever sold in New York. Another bi-level apartment in the building was bought by hedge fund manager
Bill Ackman for $91.5 million. The top penthouse at
432 Park Avenue went to Saudi retail magnate
Fawaz Al Hokair for $87.7 million, and hedge fund manager
Kenneth C. Griffin is said to have bought four floors at
220 Central Park South for $238 million, breaking One57's record for the most expensive home sold in New York City and setting a new record for the most expensive home sold in the United States. Also at 220 Central Park South, several units were combined into a four-story mansion costing $250 million. These projects have highlighted the controversial economic conditions and zoning policies that have encouraged these buildings, and concerns have been raised about their effects have on the surrounding neighborhoods and the shadows they cast on Central Park. NYC regulates building size based on
floor area ratio (FAR), which treats thin, tall buildings the same as short, wide buildings. 57th Street has a high concentration of parcels with an relatively high allowed FAR of 15. One of the factors underlying the boom is foreign investment, often in the form of
capital flight. Some of these buyers have poured money into high-end New York real estate to
dodge taxes,
launder money or transfer wealth to a jurisdiction where it is less easily
forfeited.
15 Central Park West, two blocks east, contains units that have been purchased by billionaires
Sara Blakely,
Lloyd Blankfein,
Omid Kordestani,
Daniel Loeb,
Daniel Och,
Eyal Ofer,
Pan Shiyi,
Sandy Weill,
Jerry Yang and
Zhang Xin. Before the sale of the $100 million penthouse at One57, the record for an apartment in New York was $88 million paid by
Dmitry Rybolovlev for a penthouse at 15 Central Park West. In 2016, the
United States Treasury Department announced it would start identifying and tracking the purchase of multi-million-dollar units, especially those paid for in cash or via shell companies, to cut down on the practice of money laundering. New laws in China restricting capital outflow have also been implemented, and lower oil prices have affected potential Middle Eastern buyers. Uncertainty over
Brexit has also played a role. This has weakened the market for the highest-end units, with some declaring that the "Eight Digit Boom" on Billionaires' Row has ended. In the face of this soft market, at least one project in the area (
1 Park Lane) has been put on hold. ==Buildings==