Real Estate Records of 2013
In 2013, a lot of real estate records were shattered, according to Business Insider. New York’s apartments have only gotten more luxurious with time and this year the city listed its priciest apartment ever. A Chinese real estate developer and Brazilian banking mogul joined forces to buy a stake in the country’s priciest office building in New York. And one building in New York became the country’s tallest building this year.
The Priciest Apartment Listing in New York City, Ever
A five-story private home came on the market in October. And the 62,000 square foot home would become the city’s priciest listing ever with its $130 million price tag. The former private club was listed by Brown Harris Stevens superbrokers Kyle Blackmon and John Burger. The stunning apartment features an 82-foot swimming pool, tennis court, screening room, wine cellar, full spa and gaming room.
However, the River House wasn’t the first property to break a record this year. The penthouse at the Pierre was listed to $125 million by the late Martin Zweig’s widow Barbara Digan Zweig. The price was later cut to $95 million.
Hedge fund founder Steve Cohen’s One Beacon Court penthouse listed for $115 million in April.
To help put this all into perspective, Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander listed his home this year and it became the second biggest deal in New York in 2013.
Real Estate Records: the Most Expensive Office Building in 2013
Chinese real estate developer Zhang Xin’s family and Brazilian banking magnate Moise Safra, bought a 40 percent stake in the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue this summer, valuing the office property at about $3.4 billion—the highest in the country.
The building takes up a full block across the street from the Plaza Hotel between Fifth and Madison avenues and 58th and 59th streets, with the Apple store located at street level. A whole block! Can you believe that? The sale closed on May 31, with Zhang’s relatives and the Safra family’s New York-based investment arm Safra & Co. purchasing the stake through an entity dubbed Sungate Trust. Zhang is the founder and CEO of development firm Soho China, based in Beijing.
Real Estate Records: the Tallest Building in the Country
The Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s 1 World Trade Center was officially named the country’s tallest building in November, according to a ruling from the height committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an international body that ranks the height of buildings. Some thought the building’s 1,776-foot height owed to its 408-foot steel mast, which detractors called an antenna, rather than a part of the structure of the building. But the Council on Tall Buildings ultimately decided it was a “spire,” and thus part of the building’s architecture. One World Trade building unseats the 1,450-foot Willis Tower in Chicago, formerly known as the Sears Tower to break a record and become the tallest building in the country.
