REAL ESTATE

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Record Wall Street bonuses, a strong economy, a weak U.S. dollar and limited space on the country's most famous island has made Manhattan irresistible to investors—and those who want to reside or play in the vibrant metropolis.

What helped propel the real estate market out of its temporary doldrums was Wall Street, which rewarded its executives with Hefty trash bags full of extra spending money in the neighborhood of $10 million to over $50 million. The corner had been turned when a little-known hedge fund partner named J. Christopher Flowers paid a whopping $53 million for a 25-room townhouse, a fixer-upper no less, at 4 East 75th Street.

Of course, Flowers had to buy an $18 million townhouse nearby as temporary digs until construction on his palace is completed in about two years.

Since then, all 202 luxury residences in the $1.9 billion (give or take a few million) condominium project at 15 Central Park West have sold out. The Zeckendorf brothers, Arthur and William, who developed the building on the site of the Mayflower hotel, point out that the Indiana limestone-clad structure has an Old World opulence with 21st-century technology. "We could've easily built something with metal and glass that would've been a lot less expensive," explained Arthur Zeckendorf. "But it really wouldn't have fit in with the rest of the neighborhood [of mostly prewar Art Deco buildings]."

Buyers there include Denzel Washington, Sting, Norman Lear and financier Daniel Loeb.The latter spent a then-record $45 million for a 10,000-square-foot apartment, just beating Rupert Murdoch's record $44 million for his co-op across the park, which was formerly owned by Laurance Rockefeller.

But even that record didn't last long with word that real estate developer Harry Macklowe has already spent approximately $60 million in the Plaza Hotel condominium project for multiple apartments he plans to combine into one massive residence.

And it looks as though he's going to have to pay more.