Like five others under development in the neighborhood, the two new towers will feature apartments selling for tens of millions of dollars and promising spectacular Central Park views.
Taken together, the seven high-rise buildings promise to remake the skyline and to redefine what it means to be rich in a city that is a cradle of capitalism and not so long ago was an emblem of urban poverty.
For seven years, the two developers, Gary Barnett and Steven Roth, blocked each other from moving forward with his respective superluxury project. But the men decided the time had come to settle, and on Tuesday, they signed a deal ending the feud.
Mr. Barnett, president of Extell Development, is already building One57, a 1,004-foot tower on 57th Street just east of Seventh Avenue, where the penthouse is under contract for $ 90 million. To the east, the penthouse at the 1,396-foot skyscraper under construction by Harry Macklowe and the CIM Group is selling for $ 95 million, or more than $ 11,000 a square foot.
Now, Mr. Barnett plans to erect a tower of at least 1,400 feet on 57th Street, just east of Broadway. Directly to the north, Mr. Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty, will proceed with a 65-story (roughly 900-feet-tall) residential tower. Under their accord, Mr. Roth shifted the site of his building slightly to the west, while Mr. Barnett edged his eastward, so that both skyscrapers could capitalize on what may be their most lucrative features: Central Park views.
“That’s the money shot,” Mr. Barnett said.
But with the surge in construction of apartments at prices only a billionaire could afford, is there a fear of saturation?
“Price really has no relevance,” said Nancy Packes, a real estate consultant and marketing executive. “High net worth individuals look at real estate today not as a place to live, but as an investment.
“It’s more stable than currency, bonds or stocks. And there are only a handful of cities around the globe where they invest: London, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.”
There seems to be no shortage of billionaires. The Forbes 2013 list of the world’s billionaires had 1,426 names, up 200 from last year.
But Thomas Bender, a cultural historian at New York University, said the ultraluxury towers represented a flouting of the social distribution of wealth around the world.
“These are the kinds of buildings that the robber barons built,” Professor Bender said, “but it’s also what you see in rapidly developing societies where billionaires seek to distinguish themselves in the midst of poverty.”
As is the custom, all of the new luxury towers in Manhattan have celebrity architects, including Rafael Viñoly, Christian de Portzamparc and Robert A. M. Stern. They incorporate chic amenities, like studios for staff and personal wine cellars. But it is the views that are crucial.
“Height is where the profit is,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants. “There’s a premium for views and floor levels. The higher you go, the higher the price you can get.”
Michael Stern of JDS Development is planning a very thin 1,350-foot-tall tower only a few doors east of Mr. Barnett’s One57. Not far away, a group led by Steve Witkoff is buying the Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South for $ 650 million, with plans to demolish the building in favor of a sleek tower with apartments averaging $ 7,000 a square foot, according to real estate executives.
Over at 43 East 60th Street, William L. and Arthur W. Zeckendorf plan to build a 51-story building with park views and 30 apartments selling for $ 8,000 a square foot, or $ 48 million for a 6,000-square-foot unit.
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