She receives requests to see celebrity or otherwise notable high-priced apartments from brokers "who I know don't sell in that price range," she said.

Legislative negotiators, meanwhile, had yet to translate their agreement to end rent regulations on high-priced apartments into legislative language.

Part of the summer's volume, Ms. Beck said, was in high-priced apartments on the market for years.

Environmentalists and landfill operators see a rapidly depleting land resource that may soon be harder to find than a buyer for a high-priced apartment.

But as a percentage of total sales these high-priced apartments are more than holding their own against more modestly priced condominiums.

Mr. Glick expects the units to sell for $800 to $1,000 a square foot, nearly double the current rate for high-priced apartments in Manhattan.

Others, however, said they have found sufficient demand for high-priced rental apartments to postpone further efforts to sell.

The need for planned expansion of existing public and private facilities is illustrated daily by crowded subways, high-priced apartments and squeezed commercial space.

It is to combine offices, studios, a dormitory and high-priced apartments.

In the 80's, rising real estate values led landlords to convert many of these S.R.O.'s to high-priced apartments.