Big Profits in Manhattan Sales: Milwaukee Bucks owner sells Zaha Hadid penthouse for 31% gain; UWS co-op scores 1,400% return

While many of November 2025's highest-priced sales have been dominated by Billionaires' Row condos, the top sales recorded on the week ending November 29, 2025 showed an almost even divide between exciting new West Chelsea buildings and Upper East Side elegance. The number of sales recorded climbed week over week, with all of the five highest-priced sales closing above $10 million.

The week's top sale took place at 520 West 28th Street, Pritzker Prize laureate Dame Zaha Hadid's only New York City building. While Penthouse #37's closing price of $26.5 million is well below the $35 million ask when it entered contract in October 2025, the seller, business executive/Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens, nevertheless makes a 31% profit, having bought it for $20.2 million in September 2020. However, it must be noted that this takes only the sticker price into account and not a meticulous renovation that included a new fireplace in the Great Room, a reconfigured primary suite, smart lighting throughout, and a private roof terrace "built from the studs" to include a sauna, hot tub, cold plunge, outdoor kitchen, and indoor wet bar.

The buyer is listed as an LLC, but another high-profile figure would not be unexpected. Grammy Award-winning singer/Wicked star Ariana Grande rented an apartment in the building with then-fiancé Pete Davidson, as did fellow power couple Sting and Trudie Styler while work was being done on their Billionaires' Row condo.

Impressive sales numbers were logged in the nearby One High Line and The Cortland, and further new development in West Chelsea is on the horizon. Luxury condominium 550 West 21st Street is across from Chelsea Piers and about three stories out of the ground as of December 2025. Plans were filed for a new rental building at 536 West 28th Street, a site near 520 West 28th Street, in December 2024. Demolition permits were filed for the two buildings at 538-540 West 29th Street in August 2018, with plans for a mixed-use development with 98 hotel rooms and 55 condo units, but the project has stalled. This comes amidst the redevelopment of NYCHA's Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses, which has recently faced accusations of pressuring elderly residents to move in preparation for demolition and construction.

The week's top co-op sale and second-highest overall took place at The Pierre, where a pair of 25th-story units closed for an even $24 million in what appears to have been an off-market transaction. The buyer is listed as a trust in the name of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and the seller is listed as a trust in the name of the late Viacom executive Sumner Redstone and his daughter, former Viacom executive Shari Redstone. Interestingly enough, both parties have ties to CBS: Viacom was the network's parent company, and Mr. Ellison's son, David Ellison, is the new leader of Paramount Skydance, whose holdings include CBS.

The sale was recorded at a tumultuous time for The Pierre Hotel, which includes a collection of cooperative residences. Business executive turned U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who owns a penthouse in the building, is spearheading negotiations to sell the building for $2 billion. The buyer is unknown, but one certainty is that residents, including fashion designer Tory Burch and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, could be evicted from their homes. Events like these drive home the knowledge that unlike condo owners, co-op owners do not own their physical real estate, but rather shares in a building that serves as both a housing provider and a business.

The sale was also recorded on the same week that Landmarks voted to approve the demolition of 800 Fifth Avenue, The Pierre's neighbor to the north, and replace it with a 55-unit condominium designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) and coming in at the same height as its predecessor. While this will not obstruct northern views in The Pierre, lower-floor units might have to endure construction noise as the new building takes shape.

In the meantime, classically inspired Upper East Side buildings proved popular among luxury buyers. A rare availability in Beckford Tower, the taller of the two buildings in Yorkville's Beckford House and Tower complex, ranked among the highest-priced sales of the week. A little further south, seven closings were recorded at 200 East 75th Street, making it the best-performing new development of the week in terms of the number of closings logged.