Midtown Manhattan penthouse on sale for $100m

Download

What will $100 million buy you in New York City's real estate market? Apparently, a really good view.

An exclusive listing is offering an octagon-shaped penthouse in midtown-Manhattan that boasts three floors of living space, panoramic views of the city, six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a wine room for 1,000 bottles.

And that's not all.

The 743-square-meter apartment on West 56th Street has its own elevator and wraparound terraces on three floors. It is possible to see nearly all of the city's bridges from its 135 windows.

The penthouse is being sold by Long Island real estate developer Steven Klar, who purchased it for $ 4.5 million in 1993 and spent at least as much renovating it.

Klar told The New York Times he has decided to sell it because his 5-year-old son "could potentially get out on the terraces".

The triplex, occupying the 73rd through the 75th floors, is the exclusive listing of Raphael De Niro, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman and the son of actor Robert de Niro. He said the terraces offer the highest outdoor residential space in the city.

It is located in CitySpire, a tower that created controversy when it went up in 1988 because the developer built it higher than zoning codes allowed. The city reached a settlement with the developer.

There also were complaints from area residents of loud whistling emanating from the tower. Louvers on the top of the building had to be adjusted to reduce the noise.

During the downturn in the housing market in the early 1990s, lenders took away the building from the developer. Klar purchased his penthouse after his company, Klar Organization, was brought in to sell the unsold apartments.

The asking price reportedly is the highest for any New York City apartment currently on the market. A six-bedroom penthouse at One57, a tower currently going up nearby, is under contract for $90 million.

Questions:

1. How much did the owner buy the apartment for in 1993?

2. What is the asking price for the apartment?

3. How many bathrooms does the apartment have?

Answers:

1. $ 4.5 million.

2. 100 million dollars.

3. 9.

About the broadcaster:

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on an Asia New Zealand Foundation grant, working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.