By E.B. Solomont

The ask

A Manhattan penthouse with a kitchen designed by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is coming on the market for $75 million and will be one of the priciest listings downtown.

The seller

David Weinreb, co-founder and former chief executive officer of real-estate development firm Howard Hughes Corp., who purchased the condominium as raw space for $38 million in 2017, records show.

Weinreb took Howard Hughes public and ran the company for close to a decade. He stepped down in late 2019 and is now chairman and chief executive of Weinreb Ventures, a real-estate investment and advisory firm.

Weinreb previously listed the unfinished unit for $49.995 million in 2021, but took it off the market after 10 months before completing the build-out. "I believed in the design and knew that completing it was the right thing for the home," Weinreb said in an email.

The build-out

As part of that process, Weinreb tapped Vongerichten, a close friend, to design the kitchen, which has an 87-inch dual-oven Lacanche range with brass and enamel finishes. There is also a full suite of Gaggenau appliances including an espresso machine, steam oven, vacuum-sealing drawer, warming drawer and wine cabinet. "This is my idea of a dream kitchen," Vongerichten said in an email.

Weinreb used "museum quality" finishes throughout the unit, said listing agent Clayton Orrigo of Compass, who is marketing the property with colleague Stephen Ferrara. Doors to the primary suite are nearly 12 feet tall and four inches thick with brass cladding; they weigh roughly 800 pounds.

Inside the penthouse

Bedrooms: 5 | Approximate square footage: 6,500 inside; 4,600 outside

The building, located at 551 West 21st Street in West Chelsea and designed by Foster + Partners, has a private, gated courtyard and a 20-foot green wall, a fitness center, yoga room and lounge.

What does it mean?

The listing comes on the heels of a $60 million sale at 150 Charles Street in March that set a condo record for downtown Manhattan. Other big-ticket listings and sales include a $57.5 million penthouse at a garage-to-condo conversion on Perry Street that went into contract last year; a remaining penthouse in the building is asking around $85 million.

"It is a bit of a new norm," Orrigo said. "It isn't like, 'Hey, there's a one-off apartment that's $75 million. There's a whole class of these right now." Unlike penthouses at new developments in the area that are still under construction, Weinreb's is completed. "If someone wants to transact and wants to move in immediately, there's not a lot to buy."

Write to E.B. Solomont at eb.solomont@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2025 11:39 ET (15:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.