Crown Building’s five-story, $180M penthouse allegedly has a buyer

It’ll be some time before the lauded Crown Building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street realizes its future as a swanky hotel and ultra-luxury condos, but that hasn’t stopped one person from allegedly snapping up the development’s proposed five-story penthouse—and according to the Real Deal (who cited “a source familiar with the project”), they may have paid a heart-stopping $180 million for the pleasure.

Per an amended offering plan for the building, TRD says that the more than 14,000-square-foot apartment entered contract at that exorbitant number, which works out to more than $14,000 per square foot. That’s leaps and bounds above the highest price ever paid for an apartment in NYC; that record is still held by a One57 penthouse that traded hands in 2014 for $100.5 million. Earlier this year, tech billionaire Michael Dell was outed as the buyer of that unit.

A source told the New York Post that the buyer for the Crown penthouse is “a European investor who owns multiple homes around the world”—no surprise there.

Floorplans for the penthouse, which were obtained by TRD earlier this year, show a boatload of ridiculous amenities spread out over its five stories, including a show kitchen and a working kitchen, a piano lounge, two swimming pools, a full-floor master suite, and a game room.

Of course, this is all conjecture at this point—it remains to be seen if the penthouse will, in fact, close for such a high price. But it may have some competition in other buildings along Billionaires’ Row, including Central Park Tower—where more than 20 apartments are allegedly priced north of $60 million—and 220 Central Park South, which reportedly has its own bonkers $250 million penthouse.

• Crown Building penthouse in contract for whopping $180M: sources [TRD]
• Peek at the floorplans for the Crown Building’s $100M penthouse [Curbed]