Two of the five remaining penthouses at the Puck Building are finally ready to hit the market. The first penthouse was already sold, for the whopping $28 million–$4,500 per square foot.
Until now, the Puck Building’s remaining five penthouses have been very hush-hush—the website was never even launched, which a spokesperson told the Observer was quite deliberate. It was necessary that the sales process wait until the unique construction was completed. Now, the marketing efforts will be in full force from Ms. Field and the Kushner Properties team.
The finishes at the Puck Building are incredibly impressive. The lobby boasts almost fifteen foot vaulted ceilings, cast iron columns and Quebec Noir marble. Each remaining penthouse is unique, both in floor plan and quality. Douglass Elliman broker Marc Solomon told the Observer that in luxury developments of this sort, it is common for the sale to take place based purely on renderings years in advance. However, due to the Puck Building’s historical integrity and the individualization of the properties, Mr. Kushner felt it was important to present buyers with the completed work.
“My goal for the Puck Penthouses was to take this iconic building and not just preserve it, but improve it – to let the Puck Building realize its full potential and create special homes with a level of design and finish never before seen in a new development,” Mr. Kushner told the Observer by email, “Renderings and floor plans on their own would not be able to do justice to our vision, and now that vision has come to fruition and buyers can see and experience the work we’ve put in. The Puck Penthouses truly are one-of-a-kind, custom homes, and I’ve been impressed with how Nikki Field and her team at Sotheby’s understands the unique nature of the product we built.”
Nikki Field, the Sotheby’s International Realty agent who will handle the sale of the properties, is a top twenty agent in Manhattan, and top three at Sotheby’s. Her current listings include a $25 million Virgin Islands estate, an $11.75 East Hampton home and a $40 million Preston Phillips townhouse on the Upper East Side.
Ms. Field told the Observer, “Prices have been increasing from the original presale numbers, which is indicative of the market as well as the completion of the project, and Sotheby's confidence in the quality they are providing. I am about to release two new properties: one at $23 million and another at $35.1 million, on October 1, 2014, which is being synchronized with the Chef’s Club opening. We will be launching the properties with a joint penthouse reception and Sotheby’s contemporary art show auction.”
Asked about the remaining three units, Ms. Field commented: “The penthouse, although it is completed, has not been released. We do not want to put it on the market because of a specific client who is interested. The price point will be well above $60 million for this unit. We are fully furnishing the penthouse, both indoor and outdoor space. Of course, if someone wants a turn-key, they will be able to purchase the furniture, though we imagine the buyer will want to bring their own furniture and art.”
In July, a source told the Observer that hedge fund manager David Ganek of Level Global Investors and his wife would be purchasing the property. A spokesperson for the property could not directly confirm the Ganeks purchase due to nondisclosure agreements but did note that the name of the buyers had be reported when the sale closed.
Ms. Field is not known to represent new developments, so the marketing of Puck is something of a departure.
“This is a high end contemporary vision. It is a marriage of art, real estate and
cuisine. The six most important and influential families of Soho will reside here. The people buying these penthouses are those looking to add to their residential real estate portfolios, truly collectors. These are people who want the environment of Soho but cannot part with the conveniences of state-of-art living. This is the first new development project that Sotheby’s International Realty has selected to represent in Manhattan, which is striking in a city filled with new developments. We are extraordinarily discriminating on what properties merit our brand, and when we all walked into the Puck Building say the finishes, the degree of attention to design, the cost to the construction, we thought these are some of the most significant private residences decided in Manhattan.”
(Full disclosure: The Observer‘s publisher, Jared Kushner, is the developer of the Puck building.)
