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pper West Side’s bohemian vibe is giving way to a new luxury era, as Extell Development’s 50 W. 66th Street has already set record prices. The 70‑story, 127‑unit tower, which began construction in 2019, has seen two of its most expensive units sold in quick succession. A 42nd‑floor sponsor unit—spanning 7,000 sq ft with five bedrooms and seven baths—changed hands for $44.93 million on Monday, according to city finance filings. Earlier, a 47th‑floor apartment fetched $46.77 million, the highest ever recorded for the neighborhood.

    Despite having no dedicated website and minimal advertising, insiders say the building is over 75 % sold. Corcoran’s Kirsten Jordan, a local agent, notes that the influx of affluent buyers is driven by the area’s proximity to Riverside and Central Parks and easy access to the West Side Highway. “The UWS offers better value per square foot and more inventory than the East Side of Central Park,” she says. New retail—boutique shops, gluten‑free bagel spots—has sprouted in the West 80s, further attracting wealthy newcomers and signaling a broader transformation over the past five years.

    The tower’s construction faced lawsuits and local opposition over its 775‑foot height and potential shadow on Central Park. Residents, who once prized the neighborhood’s unpretentious feel, voiced concerns that such developments could inflate housing prices. Yet the building’s price range—from $6 million to $85 million—illustrates the market’s upward trajectory.

    Snohetta, the Norwegian firm behind the National Opera and Beijing City Library, designed the UWS’s first residential tower in the U.S. Extell is already planning a second, taller tower at 77 W. 66th Street, slated to reach 1,200 feet.

    These sales signal a broader shift: the UWS is moving from a writers’ enclave to a playground for the wealthy, reshaping its cultural and economic landscape.