The Mogul Cashing Out at 220 Central Park South

Media tycoon Byron Allen can’t stay away from 220 Central Park South.

Earlier this week, The Real Deal reported that an entity tied to the mogul closed another deal at the Billionaires’ Row supertall, scooping up a 36th-floor condo for roughly $34 million. The sale marks what appears to be his seventh trade at the building, including selling three condos for premiums in 2025.

Records show his dealings in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed tower began in 2019, when he bought Unit 44B from the building’s developer, Vornado Realty Trust, for $26.8 million. In April 2023, he purchased another apartment, Unit 19B, for $5 million, and six months later, dropped $75 million on Unit 45A. He financed a portion of all of those deals.

Two years later, he started selling off his holdings. In March, he scored a premium when he traded Unit 45A for $82.5 million, the priciest deal to close in 2025, and Unit 19B for $6.3 million. The following month, he offloaded Unit 44B for $36.5 million. In total, excluding his latest purchase, Allen sold the apartments for $18.5 million more than the combined sum he paid for them.

It’s unclear whether Allen is just in it for the flip or if he has something else in mind (his attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment, including questions about his strategy).

But of all the Billionaires’ Row developments, 220 Central Park South is the one to be playing in. First-time resales at the building sold for an average of 43 percent higher than the initial sponsor sale, according to a TRD analysis in 2025.

That rate was bolstered by billionaire investor Daniel Och’s flip of his penthouse, which he bought for $93 million in 2019 and sold three years later for nearly $190 million. But even excluding that sale, first-time resales at the tower still traded on average for 36 percent more than their sponsor deal.

Those returns are significantly higher than many other buildings in the corridor. At Harry Macklowe and CIM Group’s 432 Park Avenue, first resales sold for about 2 percent higher on average, and at Gary Barnett’s 157 West 57th Street, first resales went traded for 24 percent less on average.

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New York City’s Department of Finance sparked backlash earlier this summer when it sent notices to roughly 17,000 homeowners, alerting them that they could be on the hook for the new, controversial pied-à-terre tax. Several of those owners said they received a notice despite their properties serving as primary residences.

In the wake of the messy rollout, the city delayed the deadline for homeowners to file exemptions multiple times, with the final deadline earlier this week. Of the 11,000 applications it received, the city approved 6,800 exemptions. That, along with other identified mistakes, brought the total number of owners subject to the new tax down significantly, which will reduce the levy’s projected revenue.

The surcharge’s rollout is also the subject of a lawsuit. Though a Staten Island judge in September ordered the city to abandon its attempts to implement the tax and start over, last week, an appellate judge stayed the decision, allowing the tax collection process to continue while the litigation remains pending.

NYC Deal of the Week

Allen’s deal at 220 Central Park South was the priciest to land in city records this week. The runner-up was a condo at Witkoff Group and Access Industries’ One High Line in West Chelsea. The four-bedroom apartment, No. West26D, at 500 West 18th Street, traded for $13.5 million.

A Corcoran team, led by Steve Gold, heads sales at the project.