BLUE, Norfolk Street's 16-story pixelated wonder, looks like a building designed by a computer gone mad. So it's only appropriate that actor Justin Long, the personification of every nerdy fanboy's greatest love, would purchase a condo atop the Lower East Side's loved/hated luxury high-rise. According to a Sun report, "Tower 15," one of BLUE's fancy full-floor residences, was scooped up by Long for $2.4 million. According to the Corcoran listing, the 1,975-square-foot apartment has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and plenty of big windows to gaze out upon Delancey Street and beyond. So, we get it: Apple—hip, edgy, Lower East Side. Does this mean that PC-repping John Hodgman will be forced to buy at some white-glove Upper East Side co-op?
· 'Mac Guy' Buys Into Lower East Side's Blue [Sun]
· Listing: 105 Norfolk Street [Corcoran]
1) If actor Ralph Fiennes is going to buy a pied-a-terre in Manhattan, it has to be something classy sounding. And something about the Gansevoort, the condo loft building dangerously close to MePa at 321 West 13th Street, just sounds very dignified and British, doesn't it? He paid $2 million for a 1,220sqft apartment currently configured as a 1BR (with a big curtain, right), getting a 4.8% discount of the listing price. We're not really into the bathroom placement, but he was in Strange Days so all is forgiven. [The Real Deal]
2) The Hasselbecks, and by that we of course mean The View co-host Elisabeth and NFL journeyman Tim, bought a four-bedroom apartment in the Ariel West on the UWS for over $3 million, but what became of their smaller, older place on West 79th Street? They made a quick buck off of it, selling for $1.6 million after purchasing it for under $1 million in 2005. [Gimme Shelter]
3) He doesn't think twice about making important decisions, so when author Malcolm Gladwell laid his eyes on a fourth-floor apartment in an old townhouse at 23 Bank Street, he jumped on it, even though he already has a third-floor apartment in an old townhouse on nearby Bethune Street. His latest acquisition cost him $1.5 million. [The Real Estate]
1)Carly Simon's Commerce Street duplex is quite intimate. We know this because the 2BR, 2BA co-op, located in a three-unit Federal townhouse listed at $3.8 million, is described as such twice in Braden Keil's item about the Martha's Vineyard-residing songstress. Also, we know it's intimate because there's a bathtub in the living room. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
2) Max Abelson uses the occasion of Regina Spektor purchasing a $1.1+ million condo in one of those blah post-war white-brick Murray Hill buildings to geek out all over the East Village-bred singer/songwriter. Why would a hip Strokes associate move to Murray Hill? Says the listing broker: "There are all these singles bars, so it’s become a hot, young area." Keep an eye out for Regina on the top floor at Tonic. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
3) Mothers, lock up your aging rock stars. Heather Mills has pushed up the closing of her $5 millionish ninth-floor apartment at Richard Meier's 173 Perry Street from August to July. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
1) More details now on the off-market deal that made Heidi Klum homeless, at least in Manhattan. The $5.6 million deal for her spread at 166 Bank Street was completed with the downstairs neighbors, Debra and Steve Joester. Mr. Joester is a gallery owner and onetime rock photographer. The three-bedroom apartment overlooks the river, which means Joester's new hobby will probably be shooting moody sunset shots. Klum is reportedly looking for something special downtown for Seal and the kids. [Braden Keil/Gimme Shelter]
2) Famed screenwriter Nora Ephron ditched the Upper West Side's storied Apthorp when the new owners dared to challenge her rent-stabilized status. Now, she and her husband have settled on the other side of the park, in a $2.475 million co-op at 136 East 79th Street. Take that, UWS! [The Real Estate/Max Abelson]
3) Because it's a slow week in Celebville, we now present you with this exciting update on ex-New York Met Lenny Dykstra. The headline really says it all: "Ex-major league baseball player Lenny Dykstra asks $24.95M for mansion and 6.69-acre estate in Thousand Oaks, CA that he purchased last August from hockey great Wayne Gretzky for a reported $18.5M." [Big Time Listings]
1) We thought we were finally done with Britney Spears and her Silk Building apartment on East 4th Street, especially after she finally sold it for $4 million after numerous pricechops. Then the new owners tried to rent it out for $32k/month, and now—following some renovation work and a restaging—they're trying to flip it for $6,595,000. Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group, who sold the apartment for Spears, is now trying to sell it again. Photos and floorplans from the listing are above. Nice Sculpture for Living view! [Big Deal/Josh Barbanel]
2) Where will Katie Holmes settle when she comes to New York to star on Broadway? Maybe the Upper East Side, where she recently toured a few furnished rentals with price tags exceeding $60k/month, including one in the 80s with six bedrooms. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
3) In an off-market deal, Heidi Klum's river-facing penthouse at 166 Bank Street sold for $5.6 million, to the owner of two apartments in the same building. If only Gisele were so lucky! [The Closer]
"Is this the same loft where they will have the semi-finales for the Bulgarian tri-centennial bowling championships? Why isn't there any life (furniture) other than obligatory end table, in the bottom half of the loft? What's with the funny little round sink on the kitchen island? One has to walk a half a block to take a piss but within a turn around one can wash their hands while making and then serving quiche." [Curbed PriceChopper: Courtney Love's Sloppy Seconds]
Then: $6,395,000 Now: $5,995,000 You Save!: $400,000
The celeb-friendly lofts at 30 Crosby Street in Soho turn over more quickly than an East Village restaurant space. Except, of course, for Lenny Kravitz's penthouse. That's his, always and forever. The above listing for a wide-open 4,164 condo in the building looks like—based on some old photos—Courtney Love's old place. She reportedly sold it back in February '06 for around $5.25 million. This listing has been on the market since February '08, and was just chopped a couple of days ago. Does the new owner think they can make a quick buck off the Courtney cachet (she has cachet, right?), or are they just looking to recoup the costs of fixing the damages caused by the gurney?
· Listing: 30 Crosby Street [Corcoran]
UPDATE: We've heard that this listing is for apartment #3A, which is actually the one directly below Courtney Love's former abode, #4A. Living under Courtney Love—now that must have been interesting.
1) We all know that Scarlett Johansson, with her fondness for Tom Waits and Woody Allen and other men of a certain age, is an old soul. Which is why it makes perfect sense that after selling her duplex in excitement-all-the-time Tribeca, the recently-engaged actress bought an apartment at Sutton Manor on East 53rd Street, near all the old money on Sutton Place. The $2.1 million penthouse has a landscaped wrap terrace and an enclosed sunroom off the bedroom. Ew, but it's post-war. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
2) Well, at least now we know why Tatum O'Neal bought a condo in the Forward Building on East Broadway on the Lower East Side: so she could be close to the neighborhood's crack dealers. Was that listed as a building amenity? [NYP]
3) Long-serving Saturday Night Live veteran Darrell Hammond sold his co-op at 230 Central Park South for $1.37 million. He bought the neighboring sixth-floor units for $1.25 million and combined them three years ago. No word on where he'll hone those impressions next, but Trump probably owes him a freebie by now. [The Real Deal]
1) The Times dips into the science of selling star-powered apartments, and while celebrities shy away from attaching their names to their own listings, when a property is a buyer or two removed from its famous tenant, their name is usually free to be pimped. It's the "Washington slept here" strategy, currently used on the Frank Sinatra and Andy Warhol listings. And check out David Bowie's old Essex House apartment on Central Park South, seen above. His name isn't mentioned in the listing, but it's quickly brought up when the broker has to explain that the master bathroom used to be a panic room. ['(Famous Name) Slept Here'/Vivian S. Toy]
2) Celebrichef Bobby Flay bought a $1.4 pied-a-terre at 220 Riverside Drive for his dad. Now that's a Father's Day gift. Way to make us look bad, Bobby! [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
3) Speaking of the west side, shock jock sidekick Robin Quivers bought a $2.4 million condo in the Costas Kondylis-designed 200 West End Avenue, a former Curbed Development Du Jour. Here's the real shock: she was living on Staten Island! [The Real Estate/Lysandra Ohrstron]
4) Scandal Watch: Who leaked the premature and incorrect news about The View's Joy Behar buying an apartment at Broadway and West 89th Street for $3.5 million???!!! [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
Our favorite new broker, Jared Seligman, is back in the news. Braden Keil reports that the 21-year-old Corcoran broker-to-the-stars—who does deals via BlackBerry and lives by his own set of rules—just pricechopped the Olsen twins' One Morton Square penthouse down to $10.495 million, from $11.995M. Meanwhile, he found the girls a tirplex townhouse rental on West 13th Street, and the Village locals aren't so pleased: "The bodyguards in their SUVs are always getting in the way of our alternate-side parking routine," one resident told Keil. [NYP; Jared Seligman primer]
1) On Friday, the Wall Street Journal's Developments blog reported that Julian Schnabel had lowered the price on Palazzo Chupi's available duplex from $32 to $29.5 million. Yes, the duplex seen above, in what must be the 75th time we've run that gallery (but can you blame us?). Was it a case of, as Developments put it, brokers convincing Schnabel to lower his Chupiriffic expectations? Not quite. If you recall, the same unit recently had its price raised form $27 million to $32 million, so the new asking price is really just in the middle of those two. Not quite a PriceChop, but anything related to the Chupster is news, especially when "pink unit" can be worked into a headline. [Developments/Emily Friedlander]
2) One of the Manhattan House apartments converted to a showroom for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House was most recently the home of CNBC "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo. She and her husband left the penthouse for a $6.5 million townhouse on East 62nd Street just two weeks before the design event. [NYM/S. Jhoanna Robledo]
3) Friends and family of the recently departed William F. Buckley Jr. will gather in his 778 Park Avenue duplex one last time to celebrate his life before the 5,000-square-foot apartment hits the market. The Reaper has caused a bit of turnover in the storied co-op lately. There's Brooke Astor's duplex, of course, but Death also indirectly caused Vera Wang to move out. Does he collect a commission? [Big Deal/Josh Barbanel]
1) The Ariel West, one of a pair of new Extell condo buildings so beloved by their Upper West Side neighbors that the neighborhood was immediately downzoned, is scooping up always-pregnant View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her third-string QB husband as tenants. The couple bought a $3.25 million four-bedroom apartment in the 99th Street tower for their brood, which hopefully goes better than our last run-in with an Ariel 4BR. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
2) After an initial burst of boldface buyers—Sting, Denzel Washington, Jeff Gordon—the roster at 15 Central Park West has been one boring banker after another. Now, finally, someone else we've heard of! Norman Lear closed on a 38th Floor condo in the "Tower" for $10 million. The TV legend may be 86, but he'll be damned if he's kept out of the best show in town. [The Real Deal]
Yesterday's blockbuster news that Park Slope powercouple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly are ditching Brooklyn for Tribeca focused on the gorgeous $7 million penthouse they are buying on West Street. A few Curbed commenters then pointed to this Sotheby's listing for a massive limestone mansion in Park Slope as the couple's current house, and indeed, Brownstoner confirms it. So let's have a peek at the 9BR, 3.5BA home on Prospect Park West, which measures in at over 5,000 square feet. All of the wood carving and plaster work is original and in "perfect condition." There are fireplaces in the living and dining rooms as well as the kitchen (for grilling?), and in 3 of the 4 "master" bedrooms. The top floor is the servants' quarters, with four small bedrooms and one full bath for sharing. There's a gated rear yard, and central A/C is a nice modern touch for those Brooklyn summers. The couple paid $3.7 million for the house back in 2003. Their asking price? $8.5 million. You gotta love Hollywood!
· Listing: Golden Age Limestone Mansion on the Park [Sotheby's]
· Celebrity Real Estate Wrap: Paulifer Ditching Brooklyn! [Curbed]
Now that Michael Shvo is off traipsing about in Dubai—seriously, he's there right now!—it's time to look to the next generation of self-motivated power players to find his heir apparent. And folks, we think we've found our Lil' Shvo. Say hello to Corcoran's Jared Seligman, whose name you may recall from the Olsen twins' Morton Square listing. Turns out this baby-faced 21-year-old is quite the personality. Some highlights from his coming out party, which in this case is a profile in W magazine:
1) "Seligman has gained a reputation as the Manhattan real-estate broker to the young, fashionable and fabulous. Aside from being the Olsens’ agent (he currently holds the listing for their $12 million apartment on Morton Square), he’s found homes for Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein; Tommy Hilfiger’s daughter, Ally; and seemingly every runway model in the city: Stam, Coco Rocha, Caroline Trentini, Hilary Rhoda and Lily Cole." 2) "I was the youngest person hired and the quickest-ever promotion," he says with his characteristic brio, sitting in the SoHo one-bedroom that he bought last year and has decorated with a zebra rug and cashmere throws. 3) "I decided I wasn’t a student," he says. "I wanted to be my own boss and make my own rules." 4) "I recently sold an apartment with no phone, e-mail or text conversations—I did the whole deal via BlackBerry Messenger! I don’t even think anyone in my office knows what that is."
That's 21-year-old Jared Seligman, sure to be a popular presence in his Corcoran office. Folks, we'd say we're looking forward to hearing more from this new star in the future, but there isn't enough binary code to handle all the exclamation points we'd need.
· Condo King [W]
· Jared Seligman [Corcoran]
1) How quiet is Kevin Spacey trying to keep the sale of his duplex penthouse (above) at tiny little 5 Harrison Street in Tribeca? Well, his name has never been attached to the listing even after seven months of languishing on the market, with a pricechop thrown in for good measure. And when Braden Keil did out the Spacey space, the listing was immediately pulled from the Corcoran site. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
2) The feud between Madonna and the co-op board at Harperley Hall on Central Park West has been squashed. Madge closed on a seventh-floor spread in the co-op for $7 million, after initially being blocked. She has owned a place in the building since 1985. [The Real Deal]
3) We're not sure what's more surprising: that Carol Burnett just sold her two-bedroom apartment in the Trump International for $5.58 million (she doesn't seem like the Trump type) or that she just turned 75. Wow, time flies. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
4) While he may not be a celebrity in the conventional sense of the word, if Seagram heir and media exec Edgar Bronfman can pull off this pair of flips he'll be a star, at least to real estate brokers. We know about his pump and dump at 1040 Fifth Avenue (which is still on the market), and now he's pulling the same stunt at the Carhart Mansion. Bronfman paid $19.2 million for the penthouse in the historic East 95th Street building, and now it's back on the market for a whopping $24.5 million. Dude's got a set, that's for sure. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
1) The Mets may play in Queens, but what, you thought new ace Johan Santana would buy a place in Long Island City or something? Heck no. In fact, "well-placed sources" spilled the beans that Santana has gone to contract on a 3BR, 3.5BA new condo at 170 East End Avenue, at 87th Street. The cost is just over $3 million. The apartment is on a lower floor in the 19-story building, a former Development Du Jour that sports a squash court, a "virtual" golf course and, apparently, livestock. A-Rod has supposedly checked out the place, too. [Braden Keil/Gimme Shelter]
2) A Curbed reader writes, "I'm a West Village owner on Bank Street. 113-115 Bank Street has been demolished except for the front facade that is landmarked. Rumor has it that Kenneth Cole is moving in, and has plans for an underground garage and swimming pool. Any truth to this rumor?" We would say no, because Cole just plunked down $14.5 million for a co-op in One Sutton Place South, but crazier things have happened. [CurbedWire Inbox]
3) We don't know much about Raffaello Follieri except that he's dating Anne Hathaway, he got arrested for bouncing big checks and he's checked out nearly every on-the-market townhouse in the city. The latest is this $16 million home at 47 West 9th Street, which Follieri was supposed to pay a $1.5 million deposit on, but he "disappeared" because, duh, the dude has no money! [Braden Keil/Gimme Shelter]
1) The most famous hot tub and hammock in the West Village is no more. Well, they still exist, but you can't have them (unless you pony up upwards of $7.9 million). After getting pricechopped to hell, Gisele Bundchen's West 11th Street triplex has been pulled off the market. Pour one out for this fallen homey. [Gimme Shelter/Braden Keil]
2)Bono traded his El Dorado apartment (home/not home to Moby) for a more fancy Upper West Side co-op, the San Remo, a few years back, and now he's finally cashing out on his old pad. The 2,322sqft three-bedroom apartment first hit the market in March 2006 for $5.95 million, and it recently sold for $4.9 million. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
3) Nearly two years after he signed a contract to buy it, Sting has finally closed on his five-bedroom spread in the tower at 15 Central Park West (yes, we would've pegged him for a "house" guy, too). Gordon Sumner paid $26.5 million for it, and he still owns this beauty a little up the street. [The Real Estate/Lysandra Ohrstrom]
4) Is Village resident Liv Tyler the latest in a long list of Manhattan celebrities lost to the cozy breeding ground of Brooklyn? Word across the pond is she's checked out a townhouse at 140 Columbia Heights, but there may be holes in this story. [Brownstoner]
5) Think doodling in class gets you nowhere? The creator of Dora the Explorer just bought a condo at Extell's Ariel West for $4.395 million. The next time you buy your nephew a Diego toy, think about that sweet, sweet apartment. [The Real Estate/Max Abelson]
Floorplan Porn, PriceChopper, Celebrity Real Estate Wrap—the tale of Hudson Blue fits all of the above. As reported this week in your tabloid of choice—and New York—Leonardo DiCaprio bought an apartment at Riverhouse, the new luxury Battery Park City building that swears up and down it's eco-friendly (we're sure that underground parking garage will be filled with Priuses). But, wait, wasn't Leo supposed to move in to Hudson Blue, the boutique building along the West Side Highway no doubt inspired by the nearby Richard Meier towers? He sure was, even after the rest of the eight listings were pulled off the market and reconfigured as six units.
So what happened at Hudson Blue? In a shocking twist, the building is now being marketed as a single-family townhouse priced at $21 million (down from $25 million two weeks ago, per StreetEasy). Because this building was never supposed to turn out this way, the stats are slightly ridiculous. The Sotheby's listing has it at 11 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and 5 half-baths, a total of 15,000 square feet. The freakin' thing is 10 floors! What family could possibly handle a house that big? Probably none, which is why the listing says a buyer can "develop as two or more condominium units." What made this one such a stinker?
· Listing: West Village Mansion With River Views [Sotheby's]
· Hudson Blue to Try, Try Again with Sotheby's [Curbed]
· Celebrity Real Estate Wrap: Leo's Baby Blue [Curbed]
Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi, for all its resplendent beauty, is having trouble finding those who are willing to love it for all eternity. The best kept secret in the West Village's "Pompeii-red" Venetian tower is now out of the bag: Richard Gere has been quietly marketing his massive 4BR, 4BA spread in the Chupster for about a month now, through Sotheby's broker Debbie Korb. Finally, the listing is out in the open. Gere's purchase created a huge press stir for his friend Schnabel's pet project, which may have been the point all along. He never moved in, but his apartment was customized to his tastes, a little less show-offish than Chupi's other units. For example, Gere opted for a more traditional white kitchen instead of the funky green of Chupi's other units. It's clear that the actor is looking for quite the celebrity mark-up on his investment. According to StreetEasy, he bought the apartment in September for $12 million. The new asking price is $17,995,000. With the duplex and triplex still on the market, this means that—for all the buzz—Palazzo Chupi is not garnering much interest from those with the means to actually attain it. And for this, we are sad.
· Listing: Full Floor in Palazzo Chupi [Sotheby's]
· Curbed PriceUpper: Palazzo Chupi Evens Off [Curbed]
· Palazzo Chupi No Longer For-Sale-By-Owner [Curbed]
1) A four-apartment Greek Revival townhouse on West 10th Street is going to take some serious work to combine into a single-family mansion, but Brooke Shields is up to the challenge. She just went to contract on the $5.6 million four-story home (above), between Bleecker and Hudson, which has eight fireplaces and an 800-square-foot garden. Oddly, there also appears to be a huge rendering of One Jackson Square hanging on the wall. [Braden Keil/Gimme Shelter]
2) Hey, speaking of Greenwich Village's undulating wonder (One Jax, not Brooke Shields), ex-Beatle banger Heather Mills checked out an apartment at the building while dressed in a wig and wearing a fannypack. Well, most likely she checked out the sales office, because the building still has a ways to go. [Gatecrasher/Ben Widdicombe]
3) One day, every home Andy Warhol ever lived in will be famous for 15 minutes. His Lexington Avenue townhouse already made the rounds, and now his fancier digs at 57 East 66th Street have hit the market—at $38 million. The house is currently owned by former Viacom boss Tom Freston. [Page Six]
4) Tennis star Andy Roddick is engaged to a model named Brooklyn, but his heart truly belongs to Gramercy. He just bought a condo on East 22nd Street near the park (but not within key distance), a cute little pied-a-terre listed at $1.195 million. [Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson]
Comments
1) If actor Ralph Fiennes is going to buy a pied-a-terre in Manhattan, it has to be something classy sounding. And something about the Gansevoort, the condo loft building dangerously close to MePa at 321 West 13th Street, just sounds very dignified and British, doesn't it? He paid $2 million for a 
1) More details now on the 
1) We all know that Scarlett Johansson, with her fondness for Tom Waits and Woody Allen and other men of a certain age, is an old soul. Which is why it makes perfect sense that after selling her 
Now that Michael Shvo is off 
1) The most famous hot tub and hammock in the West Village is no more. Well, they still exist, but you can't have them (unless you pony up upwards of $7.9 million). After getting 
