Landmark listing · 2019
Le Penthouse at 172 Madison
Midtown South, Manhattan
- Asking price
- $98M
- Launched
- June 2019
- Interior
- 19,815 sq ft
- Outdoor
- c. 4,500 sq ft
Four penthouses became one. Five floors in the sky, a private pool, and the highest asking price in New York at its launch.
The building
172 Madison Avenue is a Karl Fischer-designed condominium by Tessler Development, a block from the Empire State Building. In April 2019 the developer called Raphael, who had already closed numerous sales in the building, and entrusted him with every remaining residence: some thirty apartments, including four full-floor penthouses and the Skyhouse, a triplex with a rooftop terrace and its own rooftop jacuzzi.
The building had been on the market for about three years. It needed more than a new price sheet. It needed a reason for the market to look again.
Creating Le Penthouse
Raphael's idea was to stop selling the top of the building floor by floor and to offer something that did not exist anywhere else in New York. He combined all of the available penthouses into a single residence and gave it a French name, his signature: Le Penthouse.
The result: 26 rooms over five floors, with 11 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and about 4,500 square feet of private outdoor space, including a pool and a jacuzzi. A home of this kind cannot be priced from comparable sales, because there are none. Its value has to be argued, through the plan, the outdoor space, the views and the story of the building, to the very small number of buyers for whom it is a realistic choice.
The launch
Le Penthouse was introduced on June 11, 2019, at $98 million, the highest asking price on the New York market at the time. The launch drew national coverage, from The Real Deal, which quoted Raphael, to Forbes, the New York Post, Business Insider, CityRealty and Dwell.
The attention did what it was designed to do. It restored the building's standing, brought new eyes and new buyers to its other residences, and brought remarkable private visitors to Le Penthouse itself, among them leading figures of American technology and some of the most influential people in the city.
What it demonstrates
- Creating the product, not only selling it: seeing a single exceptional residence where the market saw four penthouses.
- Sales strategy alongside a developer, for an entire building.
- Turning media attention into visits, momentum and sales.
Inside Le Penthouse
Renderings from the 2019 launch: the double-height living room, the great room and the dining room beneath the five floors of the residence.
Raphael's role
Entrusted by the developer with the building's remaining residences. Creator of Le Penthouse.
Press coverage
- The Real Deal, Penthouse at Tessler's 172 Madison Avenue asks $98M, June 11, 2019.
- Forbes, Five-story NYC penthouse with private pool and hot tub lists for $98M, June 12, 2019.
- New York Post, Inside NYC's most expensive apartment for sale, June 12, 2019.
- Dwell, Peek inside NYC's most expensive home on the market, 2019.
More work
Other transactions
Upper West Side Multifamily Portfolio
4 West 90th Street and 323 West 89th Street: two fully occupied, free-market buildings with 20 apartments, sold together in August 2026 for $11.2 million.
The Broome Hotel
A five-story boutique hotel in SoHo that Raphael brought in, marketed and sold with its hospitality business, directly to the buyer, in August 2023.
1895 NE 118th Road
A waterfront home in Sans Souci, North Miami, with a deep-water dock, no fixed bridges to the bay and a pool, listed in April 2026 and sold in September for $3,170,000.