Crains

Despite a sleepy summer for luxury sales, closings on condos at the Aman New York appear strong

C. J. Hughes, Aug 30, 2022

Billionaires Row may have saved its priciest deals for last.

The Aman New York Residences condo, the residential portion of a new hotel complex at 730 Fifth Ave., at the corner of West 57th Street, has spent its summer moving in buyers.

And as those deals are finalized, the prices paid by buyers—some a couple of years ago; marketing of the condos began in 2017—are finally coming to light. On Aug. 18 the most recent deal to hit city records, and the 12th overall, was the purchase of No. 17B, which sold for $18.4 million, or about $5,000 per square foot. As with other Aman apartments, the buyer was a shell company, in this case one named Delan Island, which picked up a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with a home office.

No. 17B was hardly Aman’s most expensive. Indeed, No. 20A, a three-bedroom that has a terrace with a pool, traded for $76 million in July, deeds show. Overall, a total of five of the 12 closings were at $20 million and above, according to records, and an $893 million sell-out is projected.

Whether the fall will reveal more closings is unclear. Units at the project, a partnership between developer OKO Group and former real estate broker Michael Shvo, do not appear to be publicly marketed.

And OKO, which also created the 83-room Aman hotel on the floors below the condo (the hotel opened Aug. 2), has reserved the right to hold back some apartments and rent them out, according to the condo’s offering plan. Currently, the starting rate for the hotel rooms is around $3,000 a night.

Completed in 1921 and designed by the same architects behind Grand Central Terminal, 730 Fifth, a former office tower called the Crown Building, was purchased in 2015 by General Growth Properties and Wharton Properties for $1.8 billion, before OKO and Shvo snapped up the upper stories for their hotel and condo project.

Neighbors include big-ticket condos such as 111 W. 57th St., or Steinway Tower; 225 W. 57th St., or Central Park Tower; and 157 W. 57th St., or One57.

In Manhattan, in the first two weeks of August, buyers signed 28 contracts for apartments listed at $4 million and above, a rate that was well below the 10-year average of 37 contracts over that time frame, said Olshan Realty, which tracks the luxury market.

Likewise, the price per square foot in the luxury sector—the top 10% of the market—averaged $2,800 during the spring, according to the brokerage Douglas Elliman, a rate Aman has surpassed.