220 Central Park South contains some of the most expensive apartments in New York City, with a secretive purchasing process and many anonymous buyers.

It was developed by the J. H. Taylor Management Corporation and designed by Albert Mayer and Julian Whittlesey, all of whom had been involved with the earlier 240 Central Park South.

[10][11] The old 220 Central Park South was erected with a concrete frame and white-brick framework, and consisted of two "towers" connected by a promenade and garden.

[22]: 73  Due to its slenderness, the building has been characterized as part of a new breed of New York City "pencil towers".

[22]: 74–75 The base of the building includes a smaller section on Central Park South, called "The Villas".

[28][29] The usage of limestone was intended to blend with the more traditional facades of other buildings on Central Park's perimeter.

[23] Because of 220 Central Park South's height, it was infeasible to use hand-set or precast limestone sections, so the facade was instead designed as a curtain wall with window openings.

[30] The roof of the main tower contains a slosh damper, which uses a huge tank of water to reduce vibrations.

[33] The apartments contain features such as oak flooring, custom millwork, and marble cladding of the kitchen islands and restrooms.

[36][37] The two wings of 220 Central Park South abut a motor court with a porte-cochere, where vehicles could drop off and pick up residents and their guests.

The building also has a wine cellar, an 82-foot-long (25 m) saltwater swimming pool, private dining rooms, an athletic club, a juice bar, a library, a basketball court, a golf simulator and a children's play area.

Because of the valuable air rights involved, one uninvolved broker estimated that the property would sell for as much as $160–175 million.

The Clarett Group was interested in purchasing the old 220 Central Park South, but did not have enough money to pay for the building up front.

Although the New York Supreme Court initially ruled in favor of the tenants in 2008 under the grounds that a proper environmental review had not been conducted,[43] this was overturned upon appeal in 2009.

[48][49] Extell's CEO, Gary Barnett, stated that he leased the garage so that he would have enough parking for his own nearby developments.

[14] In October 2013, the two companies reached a settlement in which Vornado would give Extell $194 million for the garage and some air rights.

[59] Construction of the foundations involved manual hammering and controlled blasts to reduce damage to several nearby buildings, including some New York City designated landmarks.

[67] In November 2016, Justin Casquejo, a thrill-seeking teenage free solo climber and stunt performer, hung from the not-yet-completed tower.

[68][69] The construction process was generally secretive, leading real estate magazine The Real Deal to report in July 2018, "It has now been two years, eight months and 28 days since Vornado Realty Trust deigned to update Wall Street on sales at 220 Central Park South.

[74] By July 2019, exterior finishes were being placed on 220 Central Park South,[75] and Vornado had repaid its full $950 million loan to the Bank of China.

[76] Later the same year, The Wall Street Journal wrote of the building's success as a "positive sign" for an otherwise unfavorable luxury real estate market.

[77] Vornado planned to use sales income from 220 Central Park South to finance capital expenditures of its other properties.

[32] Although Vornado lost hundreds of millions of dollars during 2020 because of a commercial real estate downturn caused by the pandemic, the company was able to lessen the loss with revenue from the sales of units at 220 Central Park South.

[80] Crain's New York wrote in late 2023 that, while Vornado's office portfolio had been losing money in the early 2020s, the building at 220 Central Park South was "something of an outlier" because many of the condos had actually appreciated in value.

[83] Many of the buyers at 220 Central Park South chose to remain anonymous, purchasing units at the building through limited liability companies.

[84] According to a 2018 The Wall Street Journal article, neither Vornado nor the building's selling agent Corcoran Group were willing to divulge buyers' identities.

"[14] Notable confirmed buyers include executives such as Renata de Camargo Nascimento, co-owner of Brazilian construction company Camargo Correa; Albert Behler, CEO of Paramount Group;[86][87] Byron Allen, CEO of Entertainment Studios;[88] Eric Smidt, CEO of Harbor Freight Tools;[14] finance executive Andrew Zaro;[35] and real estate investor Richard Leibovitch.

[89][90] Other buyers have included billionaire hedge fund managers Daniel Och[91][92] and Kenneth C. Griffin;[93] real estate developer David Mandelbaum;[94] musician Sting and his wife, producer and actor Trudie Styler;[95][96] and billionaire pharmaceutical businessman Ge Li.

[100][101] 220 Central Park South has had some of the most expensive residential real estate transactions in New York City's history.