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Billionaires’ Row has never seen a blank canvas quite like this one.
Perched atop Hampshire House on Central Park South, a fully designed but never-built triplex penthouse is asking $40 million — and it comes with construction-ready blueprints instead of finished rooms. The unit occupies floors 37 through 39, tucked beneath the building’s signature steep copper roof and twin chimneys, on what brokers call the “50-yard line” of Central Park South. Concierge Auctions is marketing the listing, which pairs a trophy address with an architectural plan already honored by the design industry.
- Real estate investor Arnon Katz bought the penthouse and the rights to build out the two mechanical/attic floors above it for $22 million in 2014.
- The pre-approved design by SPAN Architecture and general contractor SilverLining won Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year award in the “On the Boards” residential category in 2018.
- Renovation costs are estimated at $15 million to $20 million, with the finished residence projected to appraise around $100 million.
Blueprint Specifications and Design Details
The plans lay out nearly 10,000 square feet spread across three levels, with 8,525 square feet of interior space configured into five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms. The design leans on oversized windows, glass walls and skylights to pull light through a grand salon, formal dining and living rooms, and an eat-in kitchen. A private elevator serves the residence, along with attic storage and a 36th-floor private waiting area — a detail that hints at just how vertical this home really is.
Outdoor space is where the plan separates itself from a typical Central Park co-op. More than 1,100 square feet of terrace is split across four private outdoor areas, anchored by a 425-square-foot central terrace that looks straight out over Central Park. For a building where most units don’t have outdoor space at all, that’s a rare selling point.
The Economics of an Unbuilt $100 Million Apartment
Katz’s math is straightforward on paper: $22 million for the space, $15 million to $20 million to build it out, against a projected finished value near $100 million. That’s the case for a buyer willing to take on construction rather than write one check for a move-in-ready trophy unit elsewhere on the Row.
This is a unique opportunity to own an iconic piece of Manhattan real estate — the discerning buyer will have a really large penthouse with beautiful views and outdoor terraces facing Central Park.
Perhaps the strangest number in the whole listing is the monthly carrying cost: roughly $5,000. For a nearly 10,000-square-foot spread with four terraces overlooking Central Park, that figure is almost absurdly low by Billionaires’ Row standards, where six-figure annual maintenance bills aren’t unusual. Buyers weighing this against other trophy addresses might also look at what full-scale ground-up construction costs in the city, as seen in Building New York’s $200M Apartment.
A Landmark With a Resident Roll Call
Hampshire House itself dates to 1940, a 37-story white-glove co-op with full-time doorman and concierge service, a fitness center, spa and valet parking. Opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti once called the building home, part of a resident history that has made 150 Central Park South a fixture of the block long before this penthouse plan existed. Buyers curious about how other Manhattan developers have handled multi-level, terrace-heavy layouts can compare notes with this 8-level Manhattan townhouse with three terraces and an elevator.
Whoever buys the Hampshire House penthouse isn’t buying a finished home — they’re buying Katz’s $22 million bet, SPAN’s award-winning drawings, and a construction timeline that still has to play out floor by floor under that copper roof.
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