Seller coming down to earth at Macklowe supertall

For sale: a minimalist apartment at a still-maximalist price.

An artsy American couple have slashed the asking price of their condo unit on the 79th floor of 432 Park Avenue to $92 million, down from $135 million when it listed in September 2021.

The sparse interior, which spans 8,000 square feet, features a tea room and bonsai plant sculpture designed by Japanese architect and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.

The next owners are not likely to keep the traditional Japanese aesthetic, although the odds that they do might be increasing.

“This reduction in price will bring in a greater pool of potential buyers,” said Engel & Volkers agent Noel Berk. “There are more international travelers coming to New York to buy, including Asian buyers who were not allowed to travel during Covid.”

The owners have tried selling their posh pad for more than two years, first with a whisper listing. When no buyers emerged, the condo listed with an eight-figure price tag. In addition to its purchase price, the apartment costs about $38,500 per month including real estate taxes and maintenance costs. 

The full-floor apartment has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, two powder rooms and 24 windows, and comes with two studio units on a lower floor that combine for an additional 1,000 square feet.

The studios can be combined and used to house staff, a library, guests or a college student, said Berk. The brokerage Engel & Volkers focuses largely on European real estate markets.

The current owners of the apartment bought the posh pad in 2016 for $59 million.

Perhaps hampering the attempted 2021 sale of the upper-floor apartment was a lawsuit filed by the building’s condo board against developers CIM and Macklowe Properties alleging flooding, noise from building sway and an electrical explosion.

CIM called the suit “ill-advised” and dismissed it as a “publicity campaign.”

Other owners in the building have relisted their units.

The owner of a two-bedroom on the 84th floor is trying again to sell for $18 million, having paid $21.4 million in 2016, Crain’s reported. Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Alhokair is attempting to resell the top-floor apartment after reconsidering his $170 million price tag.