It made sense at first, all those visitors to New Construction Manhattan clicking on the listing for Upper West Side condominium The Apthorp. It made sense because The Apthorp has always been among our most popular Upper West Side condo listings -- it's generally one of the most-clicked buildings in our Manhattan condo listings database, in fact -- and because it's a beautiful building filled with beautiful apartments for sale. Business as usual, right? Except they kept clicking. And clicking. The reason, we quickly figured out, was this story from the New York Post, which detailed what seemed like an incredible deal -- a (small) penthouse apartment at The Apthorp selling for $228,000, which is roughly 88% below its listing price. We'd click, too, if we read a story about apartments for sale in one of the hottest pre-war condominiums on the Upper West Side. So, how incredible was this deal?

Even among the many pre-war condo listings on the Upper West Side, The Apthorp stands out for its impressive pedigree. The building, at 390 West End Avenue, was built by William Waldorf Astor in 1908, and was modeled after the famed Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy. That doesn't exactly bespeak modesty, but a recent restoration has highlighted just how grand (and occasionally grandiose) Astor's vision for The Apthorp actually was. The building itself is stunning, and one of the most impressive pre-war condos in Manhattan. But while The Apthorp is a great building, it has yet to take off as a star NYC condo listing because of the ongoing tussle over that ambitious restoration.