The Most Extreme High-Rise Condos on the Market

Included with the purchase of this Manhattan condo: a $1 million-dollar yacht, two Rolls-Royce Phantoms and $2 million in credits to renovate the unit. A sweet deal, but hardly a dent in the condo’s asking price of $85 million. “People spending this much money can afford to buy their own yacht and Rolls-Royce,” says Dan Neiditch, the real-estate agent who has the listing. But the extras “show the lifestyle we want to present here.” The 10-bedroom, 13-bathroom apartment on the 45th floor of midtown building Atelier has had about 12 offers in the $50 million range over the past year—not quite high enough, says Mr. Neiditch.

With scores of super-tall, glassy buildings popping up in cities across the country, it can take a lot of superlatives to distinguish one from another. So developers and marketers are getting creative to stand out in the high-rise market. Drone landing pad? Check. Complimentary dog walking? Sure. Biometric elevator access? Done. Last year saw record-shattering prices for high-rise apartments. In New York, 40 units sold for more than $20 million apiece. Billionaire hedge-fund manager Kenneth Griffin’s spread—consisting of multiple combined penthouses at under-construction 220 Central Park South—is under contract for more than $200 million, according to people familiar with the situation. Los Angeles, better known for its manor estates and sprawling spec houses, saw high-rise sales volumes rise 21% in 2015, with one penthouse in a new 42-story building going for $22.5 million. The 65th-floor penthouse of a high-rise in Chicago sold for $18.75 million in May, a record sales price for that city. In Miami, there are currently 19 apartments asking over $20 million. To cut through the hyperbole, Mansion set out to find the tallest, biggest, priciest and otherwise mostest high-rise apartments on the market in four major cities. We used data and information from real estate websites PropertyShark and Realtor.com. (News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, also owns Realtor.com, the listing website of the National Association of Realtors.) In all categories, top residences were chosen based on publicly available listings and data. Here is a bird’s-eye view of some of the country’s most extreme aeries in the sky.

Miami

Most Expensive: $55 million The five-bedroom, 8,270-square-foot penthouse at Faena House, a condominium building in South Beach, looks like the top level of a giant cruise ship, with massive curved white decks and an infinity pool. Last year, Mr. Griffin, the hedge-fund manager, bought it along with a three-bedroom, 4,240-square-foot unit one floor down for a combined $60 million. Recently Mr. Griffin put both units back on the market: the penthouse for $55 million and the second unit for $18 million.

Largest: Approximately 10,100 square feet Listed for $41.8 million, the two-story, four-bedroom penthouse unit on the 57th floor of the Echo Brickell building is named the Carlos Ott Penthouse because Mr. Ott, the architect, will meet with owners to “design the ultimate residence of their dreams,” according to Johnny Mansilla of Nest Seekers International, which has the listing. Early renderings of this building, which is scheduled to be finished in 2017, depicted a shark swimming in a 12,000-gallon tank in the lobby. The image sparked an online petition citing animal cruelty; Mr. Mansilla says the tank will be filled with jellyfish instead.

Highest Floor: 65 In the Four Seasons Residences Miami, which calls itself the tallest residential building south of New York City, this two-bedroom, 2,139-square foot unit asking $2.5 million is five floors down from the top. The price has gone up by $100,000 since it first went on the market last June; listing agent Fabian A. Dominguez of Fabian & Peter Estates says the seller believes prices in the building have increased.

Best View: a condo with a 3,000-square-foot rooftop terrace that has views of the entire city The interior may not be to everyone’s taste, but the view from this triplex condo seeking $2.5 million is hard to beat. Built in 1981 by Harry Helmsley for himself, the glass-encased, six-bedroom condo on the 40th floor sits on top of the Palace. A subsequent owner, according to Sotheby’s International, was a Saudi sheik, who hired 27 Moroccan craftsmen to spend two years tiling and hand-carving the walls and ceilings in an intricate Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural theme. Listing agent Nancy Batchelor says the bathrooms and kitchen are “a little dated” but says the views make up for that. In 1999, Anthony Tirri, who ran aviation-related companies, bought the condo for $1.27 million. He listed it for $4.1 million in March 2012, and removed it a year later; it was relisted for $3.2 million in November 2014, after Mr. Tirri died, and the price has dropped further since then.

New York

Most Expensive: $85 million At about 10,000 square feet, this 10-bedroom penthouse condo (packaged with the yacht and two Rolls-Royces) also counts as the largest Manhattan high-rise property on the market. On the market since last year, it takes up the 45th floor of the tall, skinny Atelier building, completed in 2006. Amenities include an ice-skating rink on the 47th floor, a large lap pool, a golf-driving range and complimentary breakfast served in the lobby each morning. Mr. Neiditch, who has the listing, says the price is negotiable.

Best View: 360-degree views that take in Central Park, the Hudson and East Rivers and the Statue of Liberty This full-floor, 6,240-square-foot, four-bedroom unit asking $58.5 million is in One57, the uber pricey Midtown tower. The building’s high profile sales have included its “winter garden” duplex on the 75th and 76th floors, which sold for $91.5 million last year to a group led by hedge fund mogul William Ackman. The building is about 80% sold after starting sales at the end of 2011.

Highest Floor: 91 At 1,396 feet, condo building 432 Park Avenue is billed as the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. Its 96th-floor penthouse, listed for $95 million, sold in 2014. The two condos on the 91st floor—asking $40.25 million and $39.75 million—were originally planned as a single, full-floor unit; the developer split them after deciding that there were more willing buyers at a lower price point. A spokesman says units 95A and 95B are also available, though they aren’t officially listed and he won’t disclose pricing.

Wildest Amenity: Indoor soccer field Upper East Side building 180 E. 88th St. has eight floors dedicated to play, with a fitness studio, basketball shooting area, playroom and residents’ lounge, but the most unusual is its 18’ x 26’ indoor soccer field. In the school-heavy neighborhood a soccer area “made perfect sense,” says Joe McMillan, CEO of developer DDG. On the market for $15.5 million is unit 42—a four-bedroom, 4,429-square-foot full-floor apartment.

Most Exclusive: Buyers must get past the co-op board Apartments in 834 5th Ave. on the Upper East Side, long regarded as a prestigious Manhattan address, rarely change hands. Asking $15.5 million, this is an old-style two-bedroom unit with 12-foot-high ceilings and windows facing Central Park. One sentence in the listing sums it all up: “Residents have access to a variety of white-glove services including a doorman, fully staffed lobby, elevator attendants, and a charming courtyard.”

Chicago

Most Expensive: $13.9 million Owned by actor Vince Vaughn, this five-bedroom penthouse at 159 E Walton Place also tops the square footage category with about 12,000 square feet. It has been on and off the market, and was most recently asking $13.9 million in June, 2015. In February it was removed from public listing, but still is available for purchase, according to listing agent Katherine Chez Malkin. Property records show Mr. Vaughn paid $12 million for it in 2006. On the top three floors of the 37-story building, the unit has dark wood-paneled walls, 17-foot ceilings, big windows overlooking the lake and city, a plush theater room and two fireplaces.

Highest Floor: 90 The John Hancock Center in downtown Chicago isn’t the tallest high-rise with condos in it. But it is the building with the most floors (100). Unit 9008 is a renovated, two-bedroom 90th-floor unit asking $850,000; it sold in 1996 for $248,000. The building has 700 condos, as well as office space and retailers.

Best Views: Views to the south, east and west from the 69th floor Asking $3.6 million, this 3,102-square-foot condo in Trump Tower is on the southeast facing side—a sought-after and rare spot in the building, says listing agent Chezi Rafaeli of Coldwell Banker. Since last year, all listings in Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower are resales, says Mr. Rafaeli, who sold the building’s unfinished penthouse apartment to tech entrepreneur Sanjay Shah for $17 million in December.

Wildest Amenity: An oak and maple squash court modeled after one Michael Douglas uses in the movie “The Game.” Asking $12.95 million, the 9,300-square-foot condo at 415 E. North Water St. also boasts three saltwater aquariums, fish and coral included. It has been tough to sell because it is so unusual, says listing agent Phil Skowron of @Properties, so it is currently for rent for $35,000 a month. “Not everyone wants a squash court in their home,” he says. But people who are looking for that will also get giant backlit onyx columns that glow yellow.

Most Exclusive: When a condo becomes available it is usually bought off-market by someone already in the building who wants to expand, according to Jim Kinney, vice president of luxury home sales for Baird & Warner. The eclectic, French architectural style building at 65 East Goethe is a rarity: A relatively new building in a Gold Coast neighborhood filled with much older edifices, it only has 15 units. Mr. Kinney says Bill Wrigley, former chairman and CEO of the chewing gum company who sold the family business to Mars Candy for $23 billion in 2008, owned the 13,200-square-foot top floor. Mr. Wrigley kept it as raw space until 2011, when he split it and sold two of the units for $6.7 million. Mr. Kinney says he has called Mr. Wrigley a number of times about a third unit because there’s so much demand for condos in the building. The 6,200-square-foot, three-bedroom unit currently for sale for $9.1 million has two balconies with views of the lake and the Chicago skyline; it last sold in 2003 for $4.9 million.

Los Angeles

Most Expensive and Largest: 9,318 square feet for $28.95 million This ultra-luxurious, four bedroom high-rise apartment is in the Century, a 42-story condominium tower in Los Angeles’s Century City. Candy Spelling, widow of television producer Aaron Spelling, chose this building after selling her 57,000-square-foot estate in Holmby Hills, Calif., combining two penthouse duplexes for $34.8 million and moving in when the building was finished in 2010. The Century had three of the top 10 highest condo sales in 2015, according to PropertyShark: A 9,420-square-foot unit that closed for $22.5 million, a 5,600-square-foot unit that closed for $11 million, both in October; and a 6,750-square-foot unit that closed for $7.5 million in July.

Highest Floor: 51 On the 51st Floor of the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live, an entertainment complex near the Staples Center, this 6,590-square-foot duplex penthouse atop the Ritz Carlton Hotel listed for $15 million in January and has since fallen to $14 million. It last sold for $8.6 million in 2011 to DTI Services, a Web-development firm. This 51st-floor condo is the most expensive unit currently for sale in the building, which has helped revitalize downtown Los Angeles: next is a three-bedroom, 4,299-square-foot unit on the 44th floor for sale for $8.8 million.

Most Exclusive: Buyers must pay all cash and pass the formal approval process by the homeowner’s association board, including a background screening, personal reference check and financial statement review. No leasing is allowed. On the market for $3.695 million since January, this 4,500-square-foot unit is in a midcentury modern high-rise called Wilshire Terrace in Westwood, one of the few co-ops in the city. There are huge balconies, separate staff elevators and a hair salon. Listing agent Barbara Tenenbaum of Hilton & Hyland says the difficulty getting in is part of the attraction. “People want to live here because it’s exclusive.” She says most units sell to people who already own in the building. University of Southern California Professor and former political consultant Bob Shrum Bob Shrum and writer Marylouise Oates are the sellers of this unit; they bought a larger apartment in the building.

Wildest Amenity: Drone landing pad The 25-story, 151-condo Ten50 building in downtown Los Angeles, which broke ground in March and is slated to open later this year, doesn’t have any units listed yet. Prices will range from $600,000 for 600-square-foot studio units to $5 million for a two-story, full level 3,500-square-foot penthouse. It does have a futuristic offering: “An order is placed. A delivery arrives. By drone. On an Amazon-ready landing pad steps from your front door,” reads the website. That is on top of a pool with cabanas, a fitness studio and yoga deck and a modern screening room. Real estate agents expect there will be a lot of competition for units in the building, especially given the city’s strong high-rise market performance of late. “The total value of sales year-on-year went up strongly in 2015 in LA,” says Javier Vivas, Economic Researcher at Realtor.com. Write to Nancy Keates at nancy.keates@wsj.com This article originally appeared on The Wall Street Journal.