# 220 Central Park South
**220 Central Park South** is a 950-foot (290 m) ultra-luxury residential condominium tower in [Midtown Manhattan](https://www.edgepedia.org/midtown-manhattan), completed in 2019, developed by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. It stands at the southern edge of [Central Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-park), immediately west of the [Plaza Hotel](https://www.edgepedia.org/plaza-hotel), and is counted among the supertall residential towers of the 57th Street corridor known as Billionaires' Row. Its January 2019 sale of a penthouse to Ken Griffin for $238 million was at the time the highest price paid for a home in the United States.[1](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Height and floors | 290 m / 950 ft; 65 floors above ground and 3 below[2](https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/3754) |
| Composition | An 18-story "Villa" fronting Central Park South and a taller "Tower" rising behind it, both clad in silvery Alabama limestone[3](https://www.ramsa.com/projects/project/220-central-park-south?export=pdf) |
| Apartments | 126 apartments per the CTBUH complex listing; marketing materials described about 118 units, most with unobstructed park views[2](https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/3754) • [1](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/) |
| Site cost | Vornado paid $131.5 million for the rent-stabilized building in 2005 and $194 million in 2013 to complete the assemblage[4](https://www.vno.com/file/e5728194d8bd37722e0f1684f672d2e1eb438504/7865037_sec.pdf) • [5](https://investors.vno.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vornado-completes-220-central-park-south-assemblage) |
| Development cost | Approximately $1.450 billion excluding land cost of $515.4 million[6](https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=%2FArchives%2Fedgar%2Fdata%2F899689%2F000089968920000007%2Fvno-12312019x10k.htm) |
| Record sale | $238 million penthouse closed January 2019, about 24,000 square feet, at the time the most expensive home ever sold in the United States[1](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/) |
| Sales total | $1.52 billion in sales through December 15, 2019, at an average of $7,122 per square foot[7](https://www.cityrealty.com/file/4f42c2c9e9a7af95e5d9039477bb0f78e9957541) |
## Site and assemblage
The tower replaced a rent-stabilized apartment building constructed in 1954, which Vornado acquired in 2005 for $131.5 million.[4](https://www.vno.com/file/e5728194d8bd37722e0f1684f672d2e1eb438504/7865037_sec.pdf) Clearing the site took years. The 20-story building held 47 rent-stabilized tenants and was 40 percent vacant when the redevelopment effort began, and tenants resisted the demolition eviction for years before a court-supported buyout removed the remaining residents.[8](https://therealdeal.com/national/2020/11/19/the-inside-story-of-220-central-park-south/) • [4](https://www.vno.com/file/e5728194d8bd37722e0f1684f672d2e1eb438504/7865037_sec.pdf) In 2008, rent-stabilized tenants of 27 of the building's 41 apartments brought an Article 78 proceeding (new York court action challenging a government body's decision) seeking to compel an environmental review and to block eviction proceedings; the [New York Supreme Court](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-supreme-court) initially ruled in the tenants' favor on the environmental review, and that ruling was overturned on appeal.[9](https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2008/2008-51336.html)
**Completing the site.** On October 15, 2013, Vornado announced that it had acquired, for $194 million, land and air rights totaling 137,000 zoning square feet, completing the assemblage and allowing development to begin on a luxury condominium tower with unobstructed Central Park views.[5](https://investors.vno.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vornado-completes-220-central-park-south-assemblage) The $194 million payment went to Extell Development for an adjoining Central Park South parking garage. The two developers had waged a costly legal battle because the planned 220 tower would have blocked park views from Extell's neighboring project, [Central Park Tower](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-park-tower) at 217 West 57th Street; the settlement had each party shift its tower, Stern's to the west and [Adrian Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrian-smith-architect) and Gordon Gill's to the east.[10](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/02/new-york-conspicuous-construction/) The garage dispute also played out in a separate lease case, in which the parking operator Champion, described by Vornado's affiliate Madave Properties as controlled by Extell's Gary Barnett, faced a default notice in 2012.[11](https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5c3831bc342cca3214044cd8)
## Design and construction
The building was initially conceived as a glassy tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, but by late 2013 Vornado had switched to Robert A.M. Stern Architects, with SLCE Architects as executive architect.[8](https://therealdeal.com/national/2020/11/19/the-inside-story-of-220-central-park-south/) • [12](https://www.fieldcondition.com/blog/2016/4/5/220-central-park-south) Stern's firm describes the project as two structures: an 18-story building called "the Villa" that sits among its comparably sized neighbors facing Central Park, and the 950-foot "Tower" rising behind it, connected by an arcaded passage wrapping a motor court entered from West 58th Street. Both share a palette of silvery Alabama limestone with varied fenestration, Juliet balconies, set-back terraces, and ornamental metalwork.[3](https://www.ramsa.com/projects/project/220-central-park-south?export=pdf) Critics placed the design in the same neo-prewar family as Stern's 15 Central Park West two blocks north, a deliberate contrast with the glass towers elsewhere on Billionaires' Row.[10](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/02/new-york-conspicuous-construction/)
**Structure.** The tower is cast-in-place concrete, engineered by DeSimone Consulting Engineers with a dual structural system of shear wall cores and perimeter moment frames, using shallow beams to deliver 40-plus-foot-wide unobstructed park views and about 5,000 square feet of open unit space. A multi-directional tuned mass damper at the top improves structural performance in extreme wind, and the heavy limestone facade required an intricate support system.[13](https://desimoneblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/engineering-challenges-of-the-luxury-condo-boom/) Lendlease served as construction manager and Heintges as facade consultant.[12](https://www.fieldcondition.com/blog/2016/4/5/220-central-park-south) Construction began in 2014 and the building was completed in 2019.[14](https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/building/11182)
## Sales record
Vornado began sales in February 2015 and set a target average of around $8,400 per square foot, which CityRealty reported as the highest ever asked for a new development in Manhattan; early offerings included a four-floor spread of about 23,000 square feet priced at $250 million.[15](https://www.cityrealty.com/file/4bf3a1b0f1ad9571aa06102f2ae8975e3e141b30) By October 2018 the project was approaching 85 percent sold, with 26 full-floor units in contract.[1](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/)
The record sale came on January 24, 2019, when Citadel founder Ken Griffin closed on a roughly 24,000-square-foot penthouse for $238 million, at the time the most expensive home ever sold in the United States.[1](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/) Through December 15, 2019, sales at the building totaled $1.52 billion at an average of $7,122 per square foot, far outpacing every other building in the city that year.[7](https://www.cityrealty.com/file/4f42c2c9e9a7af95e5d9039477bb0f78e9957541) Vornado's 2019 annual report recorded $1.61 billion in net proceeds from the sale of 54 condominium units, against a development cost estimated at approximately $1.450 billion excluding the $515.4 million land cost.[6](https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=%2FArchives%2Fedgar%2Fdata%2F899689%2F000089968920000007%2Fvno-12312019x10k.htm) In 2020, the building accounted for all ten of the top ten New York condo sales by price and 16 of the top 20.[16](https://investors.vno.com/static-files/be4ae7db-0b53-434e-b150-41b7059d04cf)
## Later sales and remaining inventory
Resale prices rose after the initial sell-out; Vornado's chairman reported in 2023 that the building was over 97 percent sold and that resale prices were up substantially.[17](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/899689/000110465923043158/tm237701d2_ars.pdf) Notable later transactions include media executive [Byron Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/byron-allen)'s sale of a full-floor apartment for $82.5 million in 2025, the biggest sale in New York City that year; the same unit had sold for $55.5 million in 2019 and $75 million in 2023.[18](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/media-titan-byron-allen-sold-165150361.html) • [19](https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/billionaires-row-pads-to-a-gilded-age-townhouse-the-most-expensive-deals-in-manhattan-this-year-3bba96fe) Vornado's own filings show the tail of developer sales: two units closed in 2024 for net proceeds of $31,605,000, one unit closed on January 17, 2025 for $11,695,000, and three units and ancillary amenities closed during 2025 for net proceeds of $37,374,000, leaving one unit unsold.[20](https://investors.vno.com/static-files/61ca4a8e-80c8-41af-93e0-5f165872fb92) • [21](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/899689/000089968926000009/vno-20251231.htm)
## References
1. [This $238 Million New York Penthouse Broke the Record for the Most Expensive American Home Ever Sold, Bloomberg via Time](https://time.com/5511522/new-york-penthouse-most-expensive-238-million/)
2. [220 Central Park South Complex, The Skyscraper Center (CTBUH)](https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/3754)
3. [220 Central Park South, Robert A.M. Stern Architects](https://www.ramsa.com/projects/project/220-central-park-south?export=pdf)
4. [Vornado Realty L.P. annual letter (SEC filing)](https://www.vno.com/file/e5728194d8bd37722e0f1684f672d2e1eb438504/7865037_sec.pdf)
5. [Vornado Completes 220 Central Park South Assemblage, Vornado Realty Trust press release, October 15, 2013](https://investors.vno.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vornado-completes-220-central-park-south-assemblage)
6. [Vornado Realty Trust 2019 Form 10-K (SEC XBRL viewer)](https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=%2FArchives%2Fedgar%2Fdata%2F899689%2F000089968920000007%2Fvno-12312019x10k.htm)
7. [The CityRealty Year-End Report, December 2019](https://www.cityrealty.com/file/4f42c2c9e9a7af95e5d9039477bb0f78e9957541)
8. [How 220 Central Park South Became World's Most Profitable Condo, The Real Deal, November 19, 2020](https://therealdeal.com/national/2020/11/19/the-inside-story-of-220-central-park-south/)
9. [Matter of 220 CPS "Save Our Homes" Assn. v New York State Div. of Housing & Community Renewal, Justia, 2008](https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2008/2008-51336.html)
10. [New York: Conspicuous Construction, Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, April 2, 2015](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/02/new-york-conspicuous-construction/)
11. [Champion 221 LLC v. Madave Props. SPE, LLC, N.Y. Sup. Ct., CaseMine](https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5c3831bc342cca3214044cd8)
12. [220 Central Park South construction update, Field Condition, April 2016](https://www.fieldcondition.com/blog/2016/4/5/220-central-park-south)
13. [Engineering Challenges of the Luxury Condo Boom, DeSimone Consulting Engineers blog, May 7, 2015](https://desimoneblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/engineering-challenges-of-the-luxury-condo-boom/)
14. [220 Central Park South, The Skyscraper Center (CTBUH)](https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/building/11182)
15. [Manhattan New Development Report, November 2017, CityRealty](https://www.cityrealty.com/file/4bf3a1b0f1ad9571aa06102f2ae8975e3e141b30)
16. [220 Central Park South, Vornado Realty Trust investor presentation](https://investors.vno.com/static-files/be4ae7db-0b53-434e-b150-41b7059d04cf)
17. [Vornado Realty Trust 2022 annual report letter (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/899689/000110465923043158/tm237701d2_ars.pdf)
18. [Media titan Byron Allen has sold his Billionaires' Row condo for $82.5M, via Yahoo Finance / New York Post](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/media-titan-byron-allen-sold-165150361.html)
19. [The Most Expensive Home Deals in Manhattan in 2025, Mansion Global](https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/billionaires-row-pads-to-a-gilded-age-townhouse-the-most-expensive-deals-in-manhattan-this-year-3bba96fe)
20. [VNO 12.31.24 Exhibit 99.2 Financial Supplement, Vornado Realty Trust](https://investors.vno.com/static-files/61ca4a8e-80c8-41af-93e0-5f165872fb92)
21. [Vornado Realty Trust Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (SEC)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/899689/000089968926000009/vno-20251231.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Architecture, buildings, and civil works › Buildings and architectural ensembles › Skyscrapers and high-rise towers › North American skyscrapers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license