In the latest issue of Depatures, Michael Gross, chronicler extraordinaire of the rich and real estate obsessed, takes a look at the race to cross the most tantalizing of all residential thresholds—the $100 million mark. Things have come close, of course—the $94 million contract signed on a One57 penthouse, the $95 million contract at 432 Park, the many conceited listings whose asks far exceed $100 million (reach for the moon, right? And if you fail, you’ll fall among the stars, drifting through a dark, oxygen-less abyss.) Besides breaking some news—notably, that the Zeckendorf’s 50 UN Plaza is offering its top three floors as either a $45 million floor-through and $55 million duplex, or $100 million triplex (which comes with what is sure to become the next must-have in trophy real estate: a private, 50-foot-long heated outdoor pool), Mr. Gross’s piece also includes some ridiculously good quotes. A few of our favorites, below:
1.) “It’s breathtaking, the most beautiful thing I’ve seen,” he gasps, but in an instant, he looks stricken. What’s the problem? “Oh my God,” says the billionaire. “Do not show this to my wife. If you show her, I’ll have to buy it.”
2.) “The Russians are coming. Asians. I showed it three weeks ago to a Middle Eastern woman who has 19 homes. I can’t imagine that. It’s a different stratosphere.” (Says a man trying to sell his penthouse for $100 million.)
3.) A lawyer who predominantly represents foreign investors from the former Soviet Union says the needs of clients like his are simple: “Is this the best? they ask. The best location? The best security? The most prestige? The most exclusivity?”
4.) Where once trophy apartment finishes such as doors, cabinets, hardware and appliances were just adequate, now developers “have to provide impeccable custom touches.”
5.) “He’s waiting for the phone to ring. He has no plans to sell—until someone offers him a billion.”
