Five Blockbuster Listings and Sales of 2021

It was an unstoppable year for luxury real estate, with crushing demand and sky-high prices to match. A look back at 2021 has no shortage of jaw-dropping sales and listings, but the five below are truly noteworthy. From an over-the-top London penthouse asking £175 million to a Miami penthouse that sold for $22.5 million in cryptocurrency—a deal that constituted the largest known real estate sale in virtual currency—here’s a look at the year’s most remarkable residences on the market.

Listed: A $169 Million Penthouse at 432 Park Avenue, New York

This swoon-worthy penthouse on Manhattan’s Billionaires Row is 8,255 square feet of urban Shangri-la. On the 96th floor of architect Rafael Viñoly’s prized building, the private elevator landing gives way to a residence that comes fully furnished with pieces from esteemed designers like Fendi, Bentley, and Hermès. Throughout the home’s six bedrooms, library, eat-in kitchen, great room, and seven full bathrooms, you’ll find incredible features like radiant-heated floors, marble walls in the dual primary bathrooms, Miele appliances, 10-foot windows, and much, much more.

Deserving of an honorable mention is another major 432 Park Avenue listing, the 79th-floor, full-story residence on the market for $135 million. The real standout here is the interior design, taken on by Japanese architect and artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. Throughout the five-bedroom apartment are precious materials and finishes like 1,000-year-old cedarwood and an installation titled The Floating Inner Garden showcasing two approximately 100-year-old bonsai trees. There’s even a traditional Japanese tearoom. Learn more here.

Sold: For $157.5 Million, a Combination Residence at 220 Central Park South, New York 

Yet another jewel on Manhattan’s Billionaires Row, 220 Central Park South has seen a flurry of heavy-hitting sales in the past year. Chief among them is Alibaba cofounder and Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai’s purchase of two adjacent residences for $157.5 million in June. The Canadian billionaire bought a 5,935-square-foot residence spanning the full 60th floor for $82.5 million, the similarly sized full-floor residence above it for $75 million, and a studio on the 18th floor.

The purchase of the two full-floor apartments together constitutes one of the priciest residential transactions of all time in the Empire State. This impressive deal is outdone by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase of a roughly 24,000-square-foot residence in the same building in early 2019. Elsewhere in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed tower in 2021, homes sold for $66 million, $75 million, and $82.5 million, among several other big-ticket transitions, all for $50 million or more.

Sold: For $22.5 Million in Cryptocurrency, a Penthouse at Arte Surfside, Miami

The future of real estate is here, and cryptocurrency transactions are beginning to crop up from coast to coast. This year Arte Surfside, a boutique 16-residence condominium building near Miami Beach, sold its lower penthouse for $22.5 million in cryptocurrency just two weeks after announcing it would entertain sales offers in digital currency. The sale constituted the largest known cryptocurrency real estate deal. (The residence is now back on the market for $28 million.) 

The ninth-floor penthouse covers more than 5,000 feet and offers 360-degree ocean and city views. There’s also a 3,000-square-foot wraparound terrace and a private wine bar. To learn more about the unique deal and the future of cryptocurrency in luxury real estate, hear more from the Arte Surfside team here.