© dbox for CIM Group & Macklowe Properties

When complete in April 2015, 432 Park Avenue will exceed One57’s height by almost 400 feet, but it is also in the running to compete for another sky-high title: the epic price tags on 147 units which appraisers have valued at a total of $2.47 billion. Developers Harry Macklowe and Los Angeles based CIM Group and architect Rafael Viñoly are certainly faced with a project of brave proportions. Harry Macklowe is hardly known for being risk averse, but after a series of well-timed deals amidst current condo-buying frenzy, 432 Park Avenue will soon be at the top of the NYC real estate world.

The Manhattan sales market for residential apartments is split along price lines like never before. And even though that doesn’t sound like good news, it is. While the middle of the market is still recovering and has little inventory, the low-end of the market is thriving and the high-end is out of control in the best way. Want proof? A penthouse with Central Park views in a great Upper East Side pre-war co-op sold for $21 million last week, and no one noticed. It barely registered as news. This goes to show just how commonplace such sales have become, and how the highest sectors of the market have irreversibly shifted expectations toward the extravagant. $14 million for a townhouse here, $18 million for a 3-bedroom here; no big deal. Show people something north of $50 million and then they might be impressed. And it’s not just perception either; recent stats confirm that these numbers are now par for the course.