Boyd penthouse, ANZ tower: Room at the top
The $66 million listing of the jaw-dropping Boyd penthouse has catapulted Sydney into an exclusive global club.
The $66 million listing of the Boyd penthouse in Sydney’s CBD elevates the Harbour City onto the world stage of luxury penthouse apartments.
It was no accident the modern penthouse atop Grocon’s ANZ tower rivals the finest in the world, with its Art Deco fitout more than a nostalgic nod to the pioneering 1920s penthouses of the then-emerging cosmopolitan capitals of New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. “The glorious penthouses of the 1920s, 30s and 40s maintain their appeal,” says Christies International agent Ken Jacobs, “but there is an increased level of interest in new state-of-the-art penthouses.”
London holds the mantle of the world’s priciest penthouse sale, with the penthouse in the One Hyde Park building in Knightsbridge selling for a reputed £140 million, which in 2014 equated to $250 million. The price remains nearly double the New York apartment price record.
The 1500sq m space atop the landmark London building on the fringe of Hyde Park was bought by an Eastern European billionaire.
One Hyde Park was developed by the Candy brothers’ CPG Group, in collaboration with Waterknights, the private company of Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, and stands as one of the priciest blocks of real estate on earth.
The sale topped the previous record, set in the same building in 2011 when Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhemtov paid £136 million for two separate penthouses that were combined.
With 16,000sq ft (1486 sq m) of space, the One Hyde Park penthouse sale reflected £10,000 per square foot – or $93,000 per square metre.
That’s likely to be bettered in Monaco, where there are long-held $US400 million ($518 million) hopes for the five-level penthouse atop the Tour Odeon. The near-3000sq m hillside space beginning on the 45th floor has its own rooftop deck and pool, with a water slide that descends one storey from the dance floor directly into the infinity pool. A sale at $US400 million would reflect a price per square metre of more than $US133,000 ($173,300).
The penthouse trend began nearly a century ago during the Roaring Twenties in New York, when economic growth triggered a high-rise construction boom. Penthouses were then whole-floor, top-level apartments, but space was just the starting point.
“I opened the doors and windows of America, and let the air and sunshine in,” Elsie de Wolfe, the New York interior designer of the day, proclaimed. Her Condé Nast apartment fitout on Park Avenue is credited with introducing chic penthouse living. Previously rooftops were for clotheslines, elevator machinery, water tanks and the janitor’s living space.
Since then the world has allowed a looser interpretation of lower-level penthouse living.
New York is still producing new penthouses offering a luxury lifestyle. “The priciest districts in Manhattan are Flatiron, the West Village and Central Park, specifically on 5th Avenue, Central Park West and the newly named Billionaire’s Row – a term given to a set of ultra-luxury skyscrapers on 57th street at the south end of Central Park,” says Dolly Lenz, who runs Dolly Lenz Real Estate in New York. “Some of these are among the tallest buildings in the world, reaching over 300m.”
Earlier this year it emerged that Dell founder Michael Dell paid just over $US100 million for a penthouse duplex on Billionaire’s Row at One57, the highest ever settled price for an apartment in New York. It topped the longtime record, a $US88 million apartment at 15 Central Park West bought by Russian billionaire and AS Monaco Football Club owner Dmitry Ryboloviev in 2011.
A $US180 million, five-storey penthouse at the Crown Building, reflecting $US14,358 per square foot, could set a new record at 730 Fifth Avenue, currently being developed by Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin.
Pricey settlements are anticipated this year at 220 Central Park South, with one of its seven penthouses reportedly attracting interest in the range of $US250 million. The developers are spending $US5000 per square foot to develop the limestone-wrapped $US1.3 billion condo tower. The wine cellars start at $US133,000.
Australians are in the Manhattan mix. Late last year, the triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue that was sold. The $US44 million apartment, which the late financial analyst Martin Zweig and his widow Barbara Zweig once hoped would fetch $US125 million, previously belonged to the late Lady Mary Fairfax. She sold it in 1999 at $US21.5 million after a fitout by Sydney designer Frank Grill. Paying $US12 million, it was Lady Fairfax’s project after her husband, newspaper proprietor Sir Warwick Fairfax died.
Expat retail executive David Lowy spent nearly $US50 million on a penthouse in One57 late last year, and then listed his lower-floor apartment for $US27 million.
Another Billionaire’s Row apartment is on the market for $US37.5 million. The 755sq m full-floor penthouse at 252 East 57th Street, with interiors by designer Daniel Romualdez, spans the 65th floor. The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom skyhome has two kitchens and an entertaining space with fireplace offering views across the East River.
“There is not another penthouse that compares to this sprawling home in the sky,” says Stribling listing agent Pamela D’Arc.
The building features a spa with hydrotherapy circuit, and steam, sauna, ice and relaxation rooms.
Lenz notes several key enduring trends in New York City’s top penthouses. “The most notable is higher ceilings, which create an amazing gallery-like backdrop to showcase pricey art,” she says. “This of course is very expensive for developers, as it means fewer floors.
“Outdoor space is also a key trend as many of our buyers insist on indoor/outdoor living – the construction of which before now has been less prevalent. Personal elevators are also becoming standard in new developments.”
The realtor says her most exciting penthouse sale was earlier this year with a West Village apartment spanning more than 1020sq m. It had been rented by Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower for several years at $US95,000 a month while their Central Park West home was being renovated.
There are stars aplenty in New York. Singer Justin Timberlake is seeking to sell his Soho Mews penthouse, which is on the market for $US7.995 million. Timberlake paid around $US6.5 million for the apartment in 2010. He and his wife Jessica Biel paid just over $US20 million for a penthouse in Tribeca last year. Meg Ryan and Jake Gyllenhaal also own in the same block.
On the East Coast of the US, an empty shell of an apartment overlooking the sparkling Hollywood lights is for sale at $US58 million. Spanning 650sq m of interiors and 370sq m of terraces, the 32nd-floor apartment sits in the Sierra Towers block. Designed by architect Jack Charney in 1965 with classic mid-century lines, it’s listed through Christie’s International Real Estate agent Joshua Greer.
Savills London director Alex Christian says views are one of the important features for penthouses in London.
“Living life at the top can come with panoramic views of our capital’s iconic skyline, coupled with beautifully appointed designer interiors and state-of-the-art technology,” he says. “There’s a certain prestige about being positioned above the rest.”
There are six penthouses currently in Central London publicly listed for more than £15 million ($27 million). The priciest is the two-level apartment in the Foster + Partners designed Chesham Place block in Belgravia, marketed for £34.5 million.
Spanning 520sq m, it features upper entertainment rooms leading onto a 175sq m wraparound terrace.
Savills listing agent Ben Morris says the penthouse’s views set it apart from many of the offerings in Central London.
Alex Ross at Savills is marketing a two-level penthouse at Portland Place in Marylebone, on the fringe of Hyde Park. The two-level property has a price of £6.95 million.
In Australia we only have millionaires’ rows, though Knight Frank’s Wealth Report found Australia’s ultra-wealthy population increased by 9 per cent in 2017 – approaching the 10 per cent rate of increase of the world’s ultra-wealthy.
The ultra-wealthy are increasingly mobile, albeit increasingly being thwarted by government regulations.
“Our buyer pool in NYC is divided evenly between international and domestic domicilies,” Lenz notes. “International buyers mostly hail from China, the Middle East and Russia, but this mix varies often depending on a country’s economic health and fluctuating need for capital flight.”
In the Australasian region, one of the priciest penthouses is in Singapore, where there are $US100 million hopes for the Wallich Residence atop Singapore’s tallest tower. The three-level, 2000sq m apartment in the 290m Tanjong Pagar Centre is being marketed by Sotheby’s listing agent Donald Ng.
The likely new Australian apartment record-setter was four years in the making. An express elevator leads to the 43rd floor, high above Castlereagh Street in Sydney, where John and Marly Boyd commissioned interior designer Blainey North to decorate the near 2400sq m space. It’s set atop the tower designed by Richard Francis-Jones, the design director of the architecture practice Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, who was responsible for the striking crescent-shaped roof that takes light deep into the apartment.
Jones says he would be surprised if the apartment was ever repeated again anywhere in Sydney. It was ranked last year as the world’s finest residence in the International Design & Architecture Awards.
The Boyds, now parents of two children under three years, have decided to move on from their three-storey space, which has been their abode since 2015. It is the highest apartment in Sydney with a bespoke sky lounge, just a stone’s throw from Westfield Tower.
Everything is custom made, including what’s been described as the biggest rug in the southern hemisphere, which was hand-sewn together as one piece.
“The idea I tabled with them at [the first meeting] is that I felt there needed to be some sort of connecting [motif] and so we developed this idea of the black ribbon,” North told The Australian’s Wish Magazine. It comes down from the ceilings, traces the windows, turns into the bar unit, becomes the balustrade of the staircase and runs into the bedrooms, where it becomes the bedside tables. It ends on the top floor with its pool and cabana.
North reckons the apartment even has a Batman feel to it. “When you drive into the basement, you come into your own private lift and ride up into your apartment above a bank, which has views all around the city. It is totally private, it’s totally secure, and it’s kind of like this life in the sky in the middle of the city.”
Christie’s agent Ken Jacobs is marketing the penthouse in conjunction with LJ Hooker Double Bay agent Bill Malouf.
“The buyer will be brought to the market, because they wouldn’t have imagined an apartment like this existed,” Ken Jacobs suggests.
Malouf thinks that a corporation could be the buyer, for its chief executive or company president.
Sydney’s apartment record remains the $60 million James Packer has agreed to spend for two levels in the yet to be built Crown Resort complex at Barangaroo South.