New Zealand's richest man Graeme Hart buys New York penthouse for $51 million - report

Graeme Hart is New Zealand's richest man. Photo / File

New Zealand's richest man, billionaire Graeme Hart, has signed the contract to buy a penthouse in New York for US$34 million, which is around NZ$51 million.

Sources close to the deal told the Wall Street Journal, Hart's New York home is 537 square metres and takes up half the floor of the Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, where it is located.

It includes five bedrooms and 30 square metres of outdoor space, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The new building, named XI for its location on 11th Avenue in West Chelsea, New York, spans a full block.

It was designed by Bjarke Ingels and it is the tallest project in the neighbourhood, with views of the Hudson River and the Empire State Building.

A spokesman for developer HFZ Capital Group confirmed the deal to the Wall Street Journal but declined to confirm the identity of the buyer.

Hart this year slid in the rankings of Forbes magazine's richest people in the world, dropping an estimated $1 billion in the past year.

Hart, who built a packaging empire using leveraged buyouts, remains New Zealand's wealthiest man, with an estimated net worth of US$9.1b (N$13.4b).