Thirty-one contracts were signed last week in Manhattan at $4 million and above, one fewer than the previous week. Condos outsold co-ops, 20-9, with 1 condop and 1 townhouse in the mix.

The No. 1 contract was 84E at 217 West 57th Street, a sponsor unit asking $34,264,000. The unit refers to the 84th floor but is really the 54th floor. The building has 98 stories, but the sponsor inflated the floor numbers for marketing purposes. The apartment has 11’7”-high ceilings and 4,251 square feet that includes 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms; it has sweeping views of Central Park from the living room, dining room, and eat-in kitchen. The unit is in Central Park Tower, a 1,550-foot-tall skyscraper with 179 units that started marketing in 2018 as the world’s tallest residential building. Over 50,000 square feet of amenities include indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, a children’s playroom, and a club room on the 100th floor (which is actually the 68th floor) that includes a ballroom, bar, dining facilities, and a cigar lounge.

The building and its developer, Gary Barnett of Extell, are prominently featured in a book that will be published tomorrow (June 13) called Billionaires’ Row: Tycoons, High rollers, and the Epic Race to Build the World’s Most Exclusive Skyscrapers by Katherine Clarke of The Wall Street Journal. I read an advance copy, and it’s a very compelling story, a cautionary tale with many previously unreported details about some of the biggest developers and projects. It is a must-read for anyone in the business.

The No. 2 contract was PHA at 378 West End Avenue, asking $25 million. The triplex condo has 6,169 square feet, and includes 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and 2 powder rooms. Outdoor space totals 1,326 square feet including small terraces off the living room, library, and kitchen, plus a 891-square-foot rooftop terrace. The unit was in contract in June 2021 but did not close. It went back on the market in May of this year and sold within a month. It is in a new 57-unit building designed by CookFox with over 11,000 square feet of amenities including a doorman, fitness center, 75-foot saline lap pool, regulation squash court, half-court basketball court, children’s playroom, music room, pet-grooming facility, storage, and garage. The sponsor, Alchemy, has 7 units left, including 2 that have contracts out. The average asking price on the remaining units is $3,094/sq.ft.