L.A. Condos Have Failed to Fetch Big Prices. Will This $50 Million Penthouse Be Any Different?

An opulent penthouse in Los Angeles is coming on the market for $50 million, seeking to establish a new sales record in a metro area that has lagged behind in condo pricing. 

In the L.A. area, the prices of single-family homes routinely eclipse those of the highest-priced condos, unlike New York, Miami and even Chicago where luxury condos have fetched record sums. The current L.A. condo sales record was set in 2010, when Candy Spelling, widow of TV producer Aaron Spelling, paid $34.8 million for a penthouse at the Century, a high-rise in Century City designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, records show. By comparison, the most expensive single-family home in the area was set earlier this year when Beyoncé and Jay-Z paid about $200 million for a mansion in Malibu. Meanwhile, the priciest condo sale in the Miami area was $60 million, and in Chicago, $58.75 million. Citadel’s Ken Griffin was the buyer of both units, and he also paid a record $238 million for New York’s most-expensive condo in 2019.