The skyscraper will have full-floor homes starting on the 25th story, where the apartment will be priced at $15.5 million, according to documents filed with the New York State Attorney General’s office. A four-bedroom duplex penthouse starting on the 74th floor is currently the most expensive unit , priced at $57 million, with about $173,500 in annual common charges. The top two residences, on the 80th and 82nd floors, haven’t yet been priced.

Tallest Towers

The building will eventually rank among the tallest residential skyscrapers in New York, surpassing One57, the tower just to the west that broke ground in 2009 and kicked off the luxury-development boom. The stature is a selling point that may help draw buyers once they’re able to see that work is well under way, Maloney said.

“People as they walk by -- tourists, foreigners, local people -- they’re going to say, ‘Oh my God, look at that thing! That is so neat, that is so interesting, that is so unusual and beautiful,” Maloney said. “You want to strike when people are paying attention.”

At One57, by contrast, sales began nearly three years before residents started moving in, with buyers putting down deposits based on floor plans and photos showing views at different elevations, snapped by a camera mounted on a drone helicopter. Sales reached $1 billion within six months, and the builder, Extell Development Co., raised prices at least twice.

Downtown, developer Ben Shaoul started sales last month at 100 Avenue A, waiting until the project reached its entire eight-story height.

"You can’t just say, ‘Here’s a floor plan, here’s some renderings, here’s a model that looks like a dollhouse, now give us 10 to 20 percent of your money that’s going to sit in the lowest-interest-bearing account possible, then good luck and Godspeed,”’ said Ryan Serhant, the Nest Seekers International broker who is marketing the East Village property for Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate Group.

‘Counter-Intelligent’

Shaoul said he expects the 33-unit building to be completed by July, allowing him to promise would-be buyers that they can move in this year. More than half of the units -- which start at $1.29 million -- are in contract, he said.

“In this type of a market, it’s counter-intelligent to be out marketing a product that is 24 to 30 months out,” Shaoul said. “Buyers are concerned about interest rates, buyers are concerned about the stock market, buyers are concerned about what happens to their money while they’re waiting for their apartment to get ready.”