---
title: "170 Fifth Avenue: What the $25M Cupola Penthouse Sold For"
description: "What the 170 Fifth Avenue cupola penthouse actually sold for after auction: the $25M ask, the $9M contract, the $10.147M announcement, and the carry."
url: "https://realestaterebatesnewyork.com/guides/170-fifth-avenue-sohmer-piano-penthouse-auction-result"
source: "Real Estate Rebate Team"
datePublished: "2026-08-08"
dateModified: "2026-09-11T16:25:04.659Z"
---

# The Cupola Penthouse at 170 Fifth Avenue Asked $25 Million and Went to Contract at $9 Million

Luxury Condos · By Régis Roumila · August 8, 2026

The Sohmer Piano Building penthouse went to auction in July. Three different prices have been published for the same transaction, and only one of them will end up on the deed.

![The penthouse beneath the Sohmer Piano Building's golden cupola at 170 Fifth Avenue. Listing photo courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty.](https://realestaterebatesnewyork-bucket.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/07f1dbcb-2fb9-4817-b2ce-54c10bc4b9ef.jpg)

*The penthouse beneath the Sohmer Piano Building's golden cupola at 170 Fifth Avenue. Listing photo courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty.*

## Three prices, one penthouse, and only one of them is a comparable

The penthouse crowning the Sohmer Piano Building at 170 Fifth Avenue is the sort of apartment that gets written about rather than analysed. A golden dome cupola over the Flatiron District, a privately deeded roof deck, a circular limestone staircase between two foyers, and more than forty oversized windows. Robert Maynicke designed the building in the late 1890s and the residence sits directly beside the Flatiron itself.

It went to auction in July. Here is what actually happened, which is more interesting than the preview coverage.

The apartment came to market in November 2024 at $25,000,000. By this summer it was asking $14,900,000. On July 15 it was repositioned again to $8,250,000 to open the bidding, a further 44.6 percent cut. The live sale ran on July 29 at Sotheby's New York as part of the firm's America 250 event, and on July 31 the listing went into contract.

Our RLS record puts that contract at $9,000,000. Concierge Auctions announced a pending sale of $10.147 million. The property's own bidding page showed a high bid of $8,250,000. All three numbers describe the same transaction, and if you are pricing anything else in this building or this neighbourhood, it matters enormously which one you write down.

## The residence

- [170 5th Avenue #PH, New York, NY 10010 — $9,000,000, 5 bed, 4.5 bath](https://realestaterebatesnewyork.com/new-developments/newyorkcity/manhattan/10010/170-5th-avenue-ph-PH-ny-10010)

## This is the part that has no comparable

![Circular staircase and glazed roof at the 170 Fifth Avenue penthouse, with the Flatiron Building visible through the glass](https://realestaterebatesnewyork-bucket.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/b9d26efb-9533-4b63-aed8-b23c83cce066.jpg)

*The circular staircase sits beneath the glazed roof, with the Flatiron Building directly outside. Listing image courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty through REBNY RLS.*

An 80-foot run of greenhouse glazing, a circular limestone staircase between two foyers, and the Flatiron Building close enough to read the window mullions. Nothing in the Flatiron District offers this, which is precisely the problem the seller spent two years discovering.

A property with no comparable cannot be priced by comparison, so the market has to be asked directly. That is what an auction does, and the answer it returned is the subject of the rest of this analysis.

### From $25 million to a $9 million contract in 627 days

Every step below is drawn from the listing's own recorded price events, other than the live sale date, which comes from the auction house.

1. Launch: **Listed at $25,000,000** (November 11, 2024)
   That works out to about $4,328 per square foot on the 5,777 square feet recorded in the RLS.
2. Reduction: **Asking $14,900,000** (By June 2026)
   A 40 percent cut from the launch price, and the figure the property was still carrying when the auction was announced.
3. Auction opens: **Repositioned to $8,250,000** (July 15, 2026) [Important]
   A further 44.6 percent reduction to set the opening level for bidding. Against the original ask this is 67 percent down.
4. Online bidding: **High bid of $8,250,000** (July 15 to 29, 2026)
   The figure displayed publicly on the property's bidding page and mirrored on StreetEasy and Zillow during the bidding window.
5. Live sale: **Sold at Sotheby's New York** (July 29, 2026)
   The sale concluded live as part of the America 250 event. The seller directed all proceeds to the Gorongosa Project, a conservation programme in Mozambique.
6. Contract: **Into contract at $9,000,000** (July 31, 2026) [Important]
   That is the price recorded against the listing, 9.1 percent above the opening level and 64 percent below the November 2024 ask. The auction house announced the pending sale at $10.147 million.

**The apartment lost 64 percent of its original asking price. The auction itself was the only stage that moved the number upward.**

*Source: REBNY RLS listing price events; Concierge Auctions press release, July 31 2026 — The reduction from $25,000,000 to $14,900,000 is not individually timestamped in the RLS feed; the $14.9 million ask is documented in press coverage from June 2026 and in the auction house's own announcement.*

### Which of the three numbers belongs in a comparable-sales analysis

Auction results are not reported on the same basis as ordinary sales, and the gap is large enough to distort any valuation built on top of it.

- **The published high bid — $8,250,000** (Do not use this value): What the bidding page displayed during the online window. It was also the repositioned asking price that opened the auction, so it describes the floor of the process rather than its outcome.
  Still visible on several portals after the sale concluded.
- **The announced pending sale — $10.147 million** (Do not use this value): The figure in the auction house's own release. It exceeds the contract price recorded against the listing by roughly 12.7 percent, a gap consistent with a buyer's premium, though we have not seen the terms for this sale.
  Not on the same basis as the MLS prices you would compare it against.
- **The RLS contract price — $9,000,000** (Use this value): The price recorded against the listing when it went into contract on July 31, and the number that sits on the same footing as every other sale in the building and the neighbourhood.
  Subject to the recorded deed, which had not appeared as of August 8, 2026.

**Until the deed records, the $9,000,000 contract price is the only figure on the same footing as every other sale you would compare it against.**

*Source: REBNY RLS listing record; Concierge Auctions press release, July 31 2026 — We have not seen the auction terms for this sale and are not asserting how the announced total was assembled. Auction houses commonly report a figure inclusive of a buyer's premium, which an MLS contract price excludes. The recorded deed will settle it, and it had not recorded as of August 8, 2026.*

## It sold in 37 days, and it sold in 627 days

![Dining area beneath the greenhouse-style glazing at the 170 Fifth Avenue penthouse](https://realestaterebatesnewyork-bucket.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/387e2983-abbf-4a21-8aa7-b425aea5b81b.jpg)

*The dining area sits under the greenhouse glazing, with the Flatiron Building visible through the glass. Listing image courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty through REBNY RLS.*

The auction house's announcement leads with speed: the penthouse is described as selling in 37 days. That is accurate and it measures the auction marketing period, which is genuinely what an auction is for. A time-defined process concentrates every interested buyer into one fortnight instead of letting them drift.

The listing's own record measures something different. From November 11, 2024 to the contract on July 31, 2026 is 627 days. Both numbers are true. Only one of them tells you how long it took to find a buyer for this apartment.

The auction did work in the narrow sense. Opening at $8,250,000 drew enough competition to close 9.1 percent higher. What it could not do was recover the distance between the result and the original ask, because that gap was never really about the marketing method.

### A trophy penthouse that cleared less per foot than an ordinary Flatiron two-bedroom

Neighbourhood figures are medians of recorded deed sales in the Flatiron District over roughly the past two years, with the sample size shown so the thinner cohorts are not mistaken for precision.

| What | Price | Interior | Per SF |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 170 Fifth PH, original 2024 ask | $25,000,000 | 5,777SF | $4,328 |
| Flatiron 4-bedroom median (n=8) | $9,673,056 | — | $2,536 |
| Flatiron 3-bedroom median (n=28) | $4,225,000 | — | $2,047 |
| 170 Fifth unit 5, in contract July 2026 | $4,995,000 | 2,736SF | $1,826 |
| Flatiron 2-bedroom median (n=47) | $2,660,000 | — | $1,798 |
| 170 Fifth PH, contract price | $9,000,000 | 5,777SF | $1,558 |

**At $1,558 per square foot the penthouse went to contract 13 percent below the Flatiron median for a two-bedroom and 39 percent below the median for a four-bedroom. A smaller apartment in the same building went to contract a day earlier at $1,826.**

*Source: REBNY RLS current listings; ACRIS recorded deeds; internal sales-evidence cohorts — Reviewed August 8, 2026. Interior area for the penthouse is the 5,777 square feet in the RLS record; the auction house advertised 5,961 square feet and press coverage described it as over 5,000, so per-foot figures move by roughly 3 percent depending on the source used. Neighbourhood medians cover recorded deed sales from August 2024 onward and are shown with their sample sizes; the four-bedroom cohort is only eight sales.*

## What the winning bidder actually takes on

Common charges on the penthouse run $7,011 a month. The Department of Finance bills the unit $135,618 for the 2026 fiscal year, which is another $11,302 a month. Together that is roughly $18,312 a month, or $219,744 a year, before a mortgage and before anything the condominium assesses for the building's landmarked exterior.

Then there is the surcharge. The city's non-primary residence charge reads the Department of Finance market value rather than the price paid, and this unit is valued at $2,472,269 for 2026. That sits in the 4 percent band and produces an estimated $98,891 a year for an owner who does not make this their primary home. It is worth sitting with that number: on a $9,000,000 purchase, holding it as a second home costs more annually than the entire property tax bill.

The repricing did save the buyer something real at closing. Mansion tax at $9,000,000 falls in the 2.25 percent band, so $202,500. Had the apartment sold at its $25,000,000 ask it would have crossed into the top 3.9 percent band and cost $975,000. The collapse in price took $772,500 of tax with it.

The RLS record flags this sale as new development, which carries our higher Buyer Advantage rate of 2.5 percent rather than the 1.5 percent that applies to a resale. On the $9,000,000 contract price that is up to $225,000 returned to the buyer at closing. As always it is a ceiling rather than a promise, and it depends on the commission offered and the buyer agreement signed.

## My assessment

This is a genuinely irreplaceable apartment and it still took a 64 percent reduction to find a buyer. Both halves of that sentence are true, and holding them together is the whole lesson.

Scarcity is not the same as liquidity. A cupola with 360-degree views over Madison Square Park cannot be reproduced, and that is exactly why it has no comparable, which is exactly why pricing it was so difficult for two years. The market eventually answered at $1,558 a foot, below what an ordinary two-bedroom in the same neighbourhood fetches, and a day before that answer a conventional unit two floors down agreed a deal at $1,826.

For anyone buying in the Flatiron over the next year, the practical value of this sale is as a comparable, which brings us back to which number you use. If a broker cites the Sohmer penthouse at $10.147 million to support a price, ask them where the figure comes from and whether it is on the same basis as the recorded sales they are showing you alongside it. When the deed records, that will be the end of the argument. Until then, $9,000,000 is the number that belongs in the analysis.

One unit at 170 Fifth Avenue remains available at the time of writing. If you are looking at this building or anywhere in the Flatiron, I am happy to run the comparable analysis properly and tell you what the Buyer Advantage would return against your closing costs.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What did the 170 Fifth Avenue penthouse actually sell for?

It went into contract on July 31, 2026. The RLS record shows a contract price of $9,000,000, while Concierge Auctions announced a pending sale of $10.147 million, and the public bidding page had shown a high bid of $8,250,000. The $9,000,000 figure is the one recorded against the listing and the one comparable to other MLS sales. The recorded deed will confirm the final number and had not appeared as of August 8, 2026.

### Why do the auction price and the listing price differ?

Auction houses commonly report a total that includes a buyer's premium, while an MLS contract price does not. The announced $10.147 million is about 12.7 percent above the $9,000,000 recorded against the listing, which is consistent with a premium, though we have not seen the auction terms for this sale and are not asserting how the total was assembled. The practical point for a buyer is that the two figures are not on the same basis and should never be compared with each other directly.

### How far did the price fall from the original asking price?

The penthouse listed in November 2024 at $25,000,000, was asking $14,900,000 by June 2026, and was repositioned to $8,250,000 on July 15 to open the auction. The $9,000,000 contract price is 64 percent below the original ask and 39.6 percent below the $14.9 million it was carrying before the auction was announced. The auction itself was the only stage of the campaign that moved the price up, closing 9.1 percent above the opening level.

### Did the auction sell it in 37 days or 627 days?

Both figures are accurate and they measure different things. The auction house counts 37 days of auction marketing, which is the time-defined bidding campaign. The listing has been on the market since November 11, 2024, which is 627 days to the contract date. If you are assessing how quickly this kind of apartment finds a buyer, the second number is the relevant one.

### What does the penthouse cost to hold?

Common charges are $7,011 a month and the Department of Finance bills $135,618 for the 2026 fiscal year, giving a combined carry of about $18,312 a month before financing. If it is not the owner's primary residence, the city's non-primary residence surcharge adds an estimated $98,891 a year, calculated on the Department of Finance market value of $2,472,269 rather than on the purchase price.

### How does $1,558 per square foot compare to the rest of the Flatiron District?

It is low. Recorded deed sales in the Flatiron over roughly the past two years show a median of $1,798 per square foot for two-bedrooms across 47 sales, $2,047 for three-bedrooms across 28, and $2,536 for four-bedrooms across eight. The penthouse went to contract 13 percent below the two-bedroom median. Unit 5 in the same building went into contract a day earlier at $1,826 per square foot, 17 percent above the penthouse.

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