with the demolition because the American Folk Art Museum was in the way of MoMA's planned expansion, which included exhibition space within 53 West 53rd Street. In September 2014, Hines and Pontiac purchased a combined air rights from MoMA and St. Thomas Church for $85.3 million. At that time, the building became known as 53 West 53. Work on excavating the site started later that year. Excavation proceeded slowly because of the presence of the subway tunnels under 53rd Street and other facilities owned by the New York City Transit Authority. Investment bank Goldman Sachs had joined the project by 2015. Marketing for 53 West 53 began in May 2015, and the first listings for units at the building became publicly available in that September. The units ranged from a one-bedroom apartment on floor 17, marketed at $3 million, to the penthouse on floors 81 and 82, marketed at $70 million. The building's sales gallery, on Fifth Avenue, included a digital board with information about the units and images of other Nouvel buildings. A model unit, to exhibit the materials in the interior of each apartment, was also constructed in the sales gallery. Foundation work began in September 2015 after the excavations were completed. By November 2016, concrete pouring had reached the 20th story. Work on the superstructure progressed at a rate of one story every four days. The tower was halfway completed by September 2017, with the superstructure having reached the 58th story. Much of the superstructure and facade were in place by the beginning of the following year. The building officially topped out in June 2018, and the final spire was installed in late December 2018. Completion In early 2019, Hines, Pontiac, and Goldman Sachs were involved in a dispute over the extent to which they wished to reduce apartment prices at the tower. At the time, the projected sellout price for all of the apartments was $1.98 billion, a reduction from the $2.14 billion sellout cited in documents filed with the Attorney General of New York, but Hines wanted to reduce prices even more. At the time, there was not only reduced demand for luxury apartment housing in New York City but also general concerns that the facade's design could restrict views from inside each apartment. The dispute led the developers to seek arbitration. At the time, just over 30 percent of units had been sold in