Amazing $250 Million Trophy Apartment Listed In New York City

New York real estate is about to smash another record with a “trophy apartment” that could be listed for as much as $250 million. The apartment is being built in what’s now called Billionaire’s Row, where some of the world’s most expensive residences are located. Still, the new place forces the question, who can afford a $250 million-dollar apartment? If recent trends are any indication, they won’t be an American.

According to ABC News, the trophy apartment is four-stories with about 23,000 sq feet. It’s located in a high-rise under construction on 220 Central Park South. It has 16 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, five balconies, a huge terrace, and utilizes the latest engineering techniques that allow for buildings that are both tall and skinny, giving residents a panoramic view of their surroundings. Architect Robert A.M. Stern described the building as “an elegant spear of asparagus rising out of the ground.”

At $250 million, the new apartment easily surpasses the previous record-holder, an apartment at One57 estimated to have sold for $90 million. The New York Times reports that little is known about the apartment and its buyer because of confidentiality agreements. Still, the One57 building has come to epitomize the super-luxury real estate market in New York.

Despite the enormous prices, the One57 building sold half of its residences within six months of opening its sales office, but it’s possible that a number of the residences are under-used.

Many of the homes are investments made by foreign buyers, especially from countries like Russia, China and Brazil that have created many billionaires in recent years, but still lack safe assets to keep large amounts of money in.

John Burger is a broker who deals in the new class of trophy apartments with Brown Harris Stevens’ real estate firm.

He explained that, “These are the trophy buildings of our era, and the foreign buyer clearly fuels this very, very high-end condominium tower market.”

Super-luxury properties can serve as a haven for foreign buyers that believe in the U.S., especially those that love New York City. Some credit billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg for opening up the city to luxury developers by pushing for rezoning in previously restricted areas.

Still, it’s not a fool-proof investment plan. Whoever buys the $250 million apartment, for example, will have to pay $45,000 monthly in common costs and another $675,000 in taxes every year. Can a $250 million property appreciate in value to offset the yearly costs?

After the amazing sales for the One57 apartments, it seemed like the sky was the limit according to independent appraiser Jonathan Miller.

“That $88 million sale triggered the sense that there was this yet-to-be-harvested, nine-digit New York housing market. We started to see a frenzy of $100 million listings – what I call aspirational pricing.”

The new apartment has clearly broken the nine-digit barrier, and it probably won’t be the last.

There’s a negative side to the luxury apartments for everyday New Yorkers. The property prices in the city have already ballooned to prices that are unaffordable for many. The current average for a Manhattan apartment is about $2 million.

Business Insider also listed New York City as the most expensive U.S. city to live in, and the 7th most expensive city in the world.

The $250 million trophy apartment is the latest in the rapidly developing property market, but it might not be the record-holder for too long.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]