NYC penthouse inside a historic clocktower asks $19.25M

What time is it? The perfect time for someone to buy this standout Tribeca penthouse — one that’s housed inside a historic, and stunning, clocktower. 

Seven years after Elad Group kicked off sales at 108 Leonard, the developer is unveiling the building’s most coveted gem: “The Clock Tower” penthouse. 

Priced at $19.25 million, this marquee residence — unit PHW — listed on Tuesday, marking its first time ever for sale.

For years, whispers about the mysterious triplex have swirled among New York’s real estate elite — until now. 

The penthouse’s sprawling 8,770-square-foot interior is paired with 3,082 square feet of outdoor space — some of which directly surrounds the clock itself. It’s all perched at the nexus of the building’s north, west and south corners.

However, the clock’s immediate space, according to the floor plans, is very small — with no room to be habitable.

Until the building’s redevelopment into residential units, the clocktower had been one of the few still functioning in the city — and one that was run purely by mechanical means. It was later electrified in 2023.

Inside, the triplex with ceilings soaring past 15 feet gives way to a dramatic spiral staircase that ascends into the clocktower. 

The listing arrives at a pivotal moment for 108 Leonard. Just last week, the building’s “Crown Penthouse” fetched $24.5 million, capping a bustling first quarter that saw seven contracts inked. 

March alone stood out, logging the highest number of sponsor deals above $20 million in New York City since September 2021, according to Marketproof data. 

With fully built, move-in-ready condos in short supply — and uncertainty looming over construction costs amid potential tariff hikes — the timing couldn’t be more opportune. And now, it’s time for this aerie to have its very first owner.

As Elena Sarkissian, the sales director for 108 Leonard with Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, said, “We’ve never listed it. This is the first time that it’s on the market.”

“The library is magnificent,” Sarkissian added of the 16th-floor salon, which opens to the clock’s turret, she likens to Batman’s Gotham City. “You’ll never make it again, you’ll never see it again. It’s one of those things that’s just so special.”

The unit is made up of five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two full powder rooms.

For Elyse Leff, Elad Group’s executive vice president of marketing and sales, the penthouse transcends typical real estate.

“’The Clock Tower’ penthouse is the crown jewel of 108 Leonard — a rare and magnificent residence that could never be replicated,” she said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a McKim, Mead & White masterpiece in Tribeca and to live in a defining piece of the downtown skyline,” she added, mentioning the famed architectural firm whose worldly designs defined the pinnacle of Gilded Age New York. 

Indeed, the residence beckons a particular kind of buyer — one who cherishes history, architecture and the irreplaceable. 

“Not just your everyday buyer,” Sarkissian added, “but someone who really appreciates the provenance of this building and this particular residence.”

The tale of 108 Leonard begins in the late 19th century, when it rose as the New York Life Insurance Company’s headquarters, formerly 346 Broadway. 

Designed by the legendary firm McKim, Mead & White — architects behind landmarks like the original Penn Station — the edifice was completed in phases. The eastern wing, started in 1894 under Stephen Decatur Hatch, was finished by McKim, Mead & White after Hatch’s death in 1895. The western section, crowned by the three-story clocktower, followed between 1896 and 1898.

(Architect Sam White, the great-grandson of the firm’s final name, Stanford White, told The Post the building also notably stands out for its steel frame — a material that East Coast architects were slow to adopt, likely due its high cost.)

The clocktower looms over Broadway — its four 12-foot-diameter faces crafted by the E. Howard Watch and Clock Company, and adorned with Roman numerals. 

Once, a colossal 33-foot sculpture by Philip Martiny — an octet of crouching Atlas figures cradling a hollow globe and an eagle — topped the tower. Though removed after 1928 and lost to time, the structure’s ornate details, including hand-carved eagles and gargoyles lining its terrace balustrade, remain.

By 1987, the building earned New York City landmark status, celebrated for what the fifth edition of The A.I.A. Guide to New York City calls “its wonderful Classical clock overlooking Broadway.” 

In 2013, developers the Peebles Corporation and Elad Group acquired the property from the Bloomberg mayoral administration for $160 million, embarking on a six-year transformation of the 19th-century palace into 152 condominiums. 

For architect Tim Rooney, a partner at Jeffrey Beers International, which also had a hand in the building’s look, this project was a rare privilege. 

“The whole building itself is really just a pleasure as a designer to work on,” he told The Post. “Having this really, kind of great building that you just don’t find in Manhattan.” 

The goal was to create a space that feels timeless, despite its history of keeping time. 

“The idea was to take something historical and modernize it so it felt that it would be space that was handed down from generation to generation,” Rooney said. “And really, this was sort of the current generation’s imprint on the space.”

Inside the penthouse, a grand entry foyer spills into a 34-by-33-foot corner room, where a double-sided fireplace complements massive arched windows and ceilings topping 15 feet. 

The primary suite, a 1,000-square-foot retreat, boasts a midnight bar, a windowed dressing room and a bathroom with a six-foot tub and a double shower clad in Calacatta black marble. 

Upstairs, a flexible suite of rooms invites customization — a wellness haven with a steam shower or sauna, perhaps, or a wine cellar. 

The ascent to the clock tower’s salon is the pièce de résistance. 

“My first time in the clocktower itself, inside the actual space, was magical,” Rooney said. “It is like being transported back in time.”

Surrounded by a 2,000-square-foot wraparound terrace, the pedestal level of the clock offers sweeping vistas — the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, the Hudson River, the close-by Woolworth Building and beyond. 

“When you’re on the terrace,” Sarkissian says, “you pick up the rivers on both sides. I mean it’s really spectacular.”

“There’s the main space and then as you make your way up the space, it becomes a little bit smaller, but your sort of on this secret journey on your way to the clock tower itself,” he said.

This is no common penthouse.

“There’s one very lucky buyer ahead,” Sarkissian  said.