Ben "The Sledgehammer" Shaoul is mixing things up Downtown. In addition to his usual activities of razing buildings and terrorizing tenants, he's also converting the Verizon building on Barclay Street in Tribeca into what will presumably be super luxury, very not-Ben Shaoul-ish condos. And the pinnacle of this conversion, according to Crain's will be a sprawling duplex penthouse that will ask $100 million or more. As for it's size, Shaoul says, "Think football field." It will have 30-foot ceilings and 360-degree views. Originally, Shaoul planned to split the top floors into three penthouses, but he has instead opted to add to the ever-growing list of yet-to-be-built insanely-priced megahomes.
The price tag will put Shaoul's creation in the running for the most expensive home ever sold in New York City. The current record is still held by the $88 million sale at 15 Central Park West. Downtown, the most expensive title belongs to the penthouse of the Walker Tower, which sold for $50.9 million, a record which could be broken by a number of different units. In the "coming" category, there is the penthouse at 443 Greenwich Street, the mind-boggling $110 million penthouse of the Woolworth Tower, and likely something in 30 Park Place. And in the "existing" category, there is the $119 million combo at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park City.
The Crain's piece goes on to weave a cautionary tale of how one giant penthouse isn't the best bet for developers, but the important takeaway is Gary Barnett's opinion: "It's a dangerous road to go down, to rely on huge penthouse sales. You still have to do rational projects." Apparently, we now live in a world where One57 is "rational."
· Developers bet it all on penthouses [Crain's]
· Ben Shaoul's Verizon Tower Conversion Actually Looks Nice [Curbed]
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