The master bathrooms, meanwhile, have heated floors that, along with the walls, are made of polished Italian marble slab. The bathrooms on the upper floors include his and hers water closets, flat screen TVs and, on the full-floor residences, bathtubs carved out of single pieces of stone.
The units are designed to keep out the noises of the city and surrounding units, with concrete floors from 10 inches to 12 inches thick. The penthouses each will have private elevators that go from the living areas to the sleeping areas and a dual-level grand salon overlooking the park. The upper penthouse will have four wood-burning fireplaces.
The lower penthouse has one of the more unique features in the high-rise: a climate-controlled winter garden room with a 25-foot-high glass roof.
The sales gallery includes replicas of many of the rooms that will be available in the units, including two full kitchens, one done in each color wood. The sitting room includes a large curved screen that displays some of the panoramic views that will be available from atop the building, which Extell captured by flying unmanned drones.
"The drones were very important to enable the buyer to get a true sense of what the views will be," Tubb says.
The galleries allow buyers to see everything they are purchasing more than a year before the tower opens next year, according to Extell. The building is expected to top off some time in July and the first closings should occur in mid-2013.
Residence owners will have a separate entrance and lobby from that of the hotel, but they will be able to use the Hyatt's 65-foot pool, located in a three-story-tall space 300 feet above street level, with a mezzanine spa and gym. There will also be a private, residents-only gym and a range of concierge services.
Common charges range from $1.30 to $1.60 per square foot per month and are slightly higher for the full-floor residences and the penthouses. Additionally, the condominiums will receive 10-year tax abatements under New York's 421-a tax exemption program. Tax obligations will be reduced for condo owners the first year, and increase gradually over a decade until reaching the normal amount.
New York City has the most expensive housing in the United States, with an average home price that exceeds $1 million. The lowest-priced units in One57 started at $3.2 million for a one-bedroom, 1,020-square-foot unit and those sold out quickly. In early May, the smallest unit left was a $7.4 million two-bedroom.
One reason demand has been so strong is that there is not a lot of inventory in the ultra-high-end market, observers say.
"Brokers say they are getting more calls about apartments in the $50 million range than they are about apartments in the $5 million range," Sheftell says.