Both the House and the Tower contain several setbacks, complementing the design of older apartment buildings on Central Park West.

The facade of 15 Central Park West is made of Indiana limestone, with large window openings and metal balconies.

In May 2004, a joint venture composed of Arthur and William Lie Zeckendorf, Whitehall Street International, and Global Holdings Inc. purchased the Mayflower and the vacant lot for $401 million.

[16][14] The Tower rises from a ground-level retail podium, aligned with the diagonal axis of Broadway,[17] though it was intended to blend in with other mid-rise buildings along Central Park West.

[18] According to Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the design complemented Central Park West's twin-towered developments: the Century, the Majestic, the San Remo, and the El Dorado.

[33] The building's main entrance is through a curved limestone doorway on Central Park West, which contains a set of double doors topped by a transom.

[35] The House's lobby on Central Park West is designed in English oak with marble trim, as well as two fireplaces with elaborate mantels.

[42][43] Floor 9 (physically the sixth story) of the Tower contains four apartments, each with large terraces above the retail podium on Broadway.

[46] Mica Ertegun redecorated the unit in materials such as mahogany, onyx, and plaster;[47][48] the apartment's roof contains wind, moisture, and temperature sensors.

[48] Before the building opened, the Zeckendorfs combined two apartments to create a 10,500 sq ft (980 m2) unit on floor 39 of the Tower (physically the 31st story).

[54] The basement contains a wine cellar with an octagonal wine-tasting area,[15][52] another feature intended to attract potential residents.

[44][57] In May 2004, a joint venture composed of Arthur and William Lie Zeckendorf, Whitehall Street International, and Global Holdings Inc. purchased the Mayflower and the adjacent vacant lot for $401 million.

[62][66] The Zeckendorfs agreed to build affordable housing in another part of the city in exchange for a 421-a tax exemption for 15 Central Park West,[67] as well as 114,000 sq ft (10,600 m2) in additional floor area.

[69] Before starting construction, Arthur Zeckendorf conducted studies to determine which amenities to include in the building and which type of limestone to use for the facade.

[74] Because the building was a condominium development, its apartment prices tended to be higher than in housing cooperatives on the Upper West Side, which generally were more restrictive than condos.

[77] Sales were also driven by reports of numerous high-profile personalities who bought condos at the building, such as sportscaster Bob Costas, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, producer Norman Lear, actor Denzel Washington, musician Sting, and investment bankers Lloyd Blankfein and Sanford I.

[78] Total condominium sales at 15 CPW surpassed $1 billion after Washington bought a condo in June 2006, and the building's developers hosted a "Billion-Dollar Bash" to celebrate the event.

[4] Though the real-estate market in general had slowed down due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, luxury condo sales at 15 CPW and the Plaza Hotel disproportionately impacted average apartment prices in Manhattan.

[91] Several tenants had resold their condos by June 2008,[12] and Chase Bank and furniture store West Elm agreed to rent storefront space in the building's retail podium the next month.

[93][94] Asking prices for the building's condos had started to decline, amid a greater slowdown in the luxury real estate market.

[95] Even so, high-priced sales at 15 CPW continued through 2009, leading The New York Times to call it "a beacon of hope for the battered luxury real estate market in Manhattan".

[36] In early 2012, Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev paid $88 million for a penthouse apartment for his daughter Ekaterina Rybolovleva,[98][99] making it the most expensive residence in New York City.

[99] The transaction encouraged developers of nearby buildings to raise their apartment prices,[57] although it was surpassed by a sale at One57 not long afterward.

[101] According to a 2017 report, apartments at 15 CPW generally were more expensive than at any other building in the city, even compared with Billionaires' Row developments such as 432 Park Avenue and One57.

[111] Gross wrote that 15 CPW's residents also included "more traditional wealthy types" such as doctors, chief executives, and lawyers.

[97][118] Though the condominium development's rules were less stringent than those of housing cooperatives, one broker described the buying process as "brutal, ludicrous, anal".

[139] Prospective buyers had to complete a 32-page application form, including an acknowledgement that they had "read and agreed to seven pages of single-spaced house rules".

[36] Conversely, any resident who sold a condominium had to pay two months' worth of maintenance charges, which were then used to fund improvements to the building.

[142] Conversely, the AIA Guide to New York City lamented Stern's "attempted re-incarnation" of the luxurious apartment buildings built on Central Park West between the two world wars.

[143] Many of the building's residents had made their wealth through intangible assets such as software, music, or hedge funds, leading Justin Davidson to say: "Stern does not claim to be an architect of great originality; instead, he has built the best knockoff money can buy.