The New 30 Is Now 50

THE uncertainties on Wall Street may be sending shivers down the backs of hedge fund titans and their real estate brokers, but so far the upper reaches of the Manhattan property market have been so strong that a report concludes the truly rich now need to think about spending million to acquire a one-of-a-kind property.

1060 Fifth Avenue

In a midyear report on the luxury market, Kirk Henckels, the director of Stribling Private Brokerage, said that only a year or two ago, a buyer needed just million to buy a sprawling town house or legendary penthouse with the best views, and the most bragging rights. But with more money chasing fewer apartments, that price tag is now million for trophy properties, not including decorating costs, he said.

Now, he said, " million is the new million - somehow million was skipped."

For example, property records show that in June the developer Harry Macklowe closed on the purchase of seven contiguous condominium apartments at the newly refurbished Plaza, with more than 13,000 square feet of space. He paid the sponsors a total of million in two separate transactions, but his total costs were closer to million.

The details of the purchase were pieced together from clues in the property records. The records show that six of the apartments were bought in a single transaction by a limited liability corporation for million, while the seventh, a one-bedroom, was bought by a separate corporation, for million.

Both transactions occurred on the same day, and both buyers were represented by the same real estate lawyer, Stuart M. Saft. It appears that the transactions were split because Mr. Macklowe was able to buy six apartments directly from the developer, El-Ad Properties, but was forced to buy out the interests of another buyer in the seventh apartment before closing, in order to create the space he wanted.

Mr. Macklowe's transaction is one of two at the Plaza said by brokers to be for more than million. (The other, which has not yet appeared in public filings, is for million.)

The million benchmark was first passed last fall with the million sale of the Harkness Mansion on 75th Street near Fifth Avenue. More recently, a contract was signed for the sale of a 31-foot-wide town house owned by Edgar Bronfman Jr. on East 64th Street off Fifth Avenue. That sale, for million, has not yet closed either.

And several real estate brokers say they have been told that a deal is in place for the sale of a 17-room duplex penthouse co-op at 1060 Fifth Avenue, at 87th Street, for close to the asking price: million. Because the market for the most expensive and exceptional apartments is so strong, the owners of two separate apartments, a 12-room apartment on the 13th floor and a 5-room penthouse above with huge wraparound terraces with views of the Central Park reservoir, agreed to market their apartments together to a single buyer.

Combining the apartments - listed by Fritzi Kallop, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens - would require the approval of the co-op board. Ms. Kallop declined to comment on any pending sale.

Mr. Henckels's report showed the number of town houses and co-ops that closed for more than million during the first six months of 2007 trailed the number that closed during the same period last year - 125, versus 143. Mr. Henckels attributed that decline to a shortage of luxury apartments.

Meanwhile, the prices for the apartments available were pushed higher by what he delicately called "market liquidity," or people with lots of money to spend chasing fewer apartments. "These two factors combined to force prices up, breaking through the glass ceiling to new levels," he said.

Despite nationwide real estate and debt problems, Mr. Henckels and other brokers say that so far there are no signs of a faltering market and that they expect a strong fall season.

Mr. Henckels noted that prices were far higher in London, where a condo sold for 6 million in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. "Compared to London," he said, "New York is a bargain."

Creating a New Sense of Style

THE old Barbizon Hotel for Women, even in its shabby days, always had a touch of class and style. After all, Grace Kelly, Ali MacGraw, Candice Bergen and Liza Minnelli stayed in some of its 700 tiny rooms on the East Side when they came to New York to begin their careers.

Now that the hotel has been restored and reborn as a condominium called Barbizon 63, it turns out that some of its new buyers also come from the world of celebrity, fashion and style.

The buyer of one large penthouse is Nicola Bulgari, the vice chairman of the Italian jewelry company, which recently redesigned its flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. Last spring, Mr. Bulgari and his family gave a lavish Roman-style dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the reopening.

City property records show that Mr. Bulgari paid .75 million for a duplex penthouse on the 17th and 18th floors with three bedrooms downstairs and a living room, library, dining room and kitchen above, with a 1,280-square-foot terrace wrapping around two sides.

All but four of the 69 apartments in the 23-story hotel, at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue, have been sold, according to Danielle Englebardt, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman, which represents the building. She said that while many of the buyers were foreigners, mainly from Europe and South America, most buyers were New Yorkers looking for primary homes.

The last penthouse, the largest in the building, is one of the four remaining condos and has just been released for sale at .9 million. The duplex is 5,354 square feet on two full floors, and includes high ceilings and large rosette windows that dominate the top of the Barbizon building.

Mr. Bulgari, who is based in Rome, has an office at the Fifth Avenue store, and has always had a strong cultural affinity to America. A good part of his collection of more than 150 vintage cars, most of them made in America, is stored in Allentown, Pa.