All stories about "Robert De Niro"

Oopsie: Greenwich Hotel's Penthouse is Illegal

Just because Robert De Niro put Tribeca on the map of mainstream America, that doesn't mean he can push the neighborhood around. So sayeth the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which now realizes that the top-floor addition to De Niro's Greenwhich Hotel does not match the approved design. LPC spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon told Rush & Molloy: "We approved the addition of a seventh story in November 2004. Yet the structure that was built is steeper and its footprint bigger, making it significantly more visible [from the street] than originally allowed." Is that why the opening of the hotel was greeted with such an iron fist? They didn't want anyone to notice the chicanery? De Niro's team will now head to the commission on June 17 to try and get the structure retroactively approved. While it's not likely, the LPC could demand that the top floor be torn down. After all, they've done it before in Tribeca.
· City could floor De Niro [NYDN]
· De Niro Shows Off His Hotel, Offers Some Bargains [Curbed]
· In Which We Almost Get Inside the Greenwich Hotel [Curbed]

Nobu Hotel, Like its Patrons, Will be Tall & Skinny

Now that the confusion regarding the location of the Nobu Hotel has been cleared up, Braden Keil has the reveal on what the Financial District's Robert De Niro-backed luxury hotel/condo will look like—and surprise, it's another huge all-glass tower for our little island. According to developer Kent Swig there will be 77 "super-luxury" condos on floors 41 through 62, and 128 hotel rooms and 13,000-square-feet of retail space below. The Nobu restaurant will be on the third floor of the six-story transparent base. Moed de Armas & Shannon designed the curvy exterior of 45 Broad Street, and the ubiquitous Rockwell Group will be handling the guts. So! The Nobu Hotel, the W Hotel & Residences, the Four Seasons—can the FiDi really handle all of these hotel hybrids?
· Just Say Nobu [NYP]
· CurbedWire Special: De Niro's FiDi Hotel NOT at 50 Broad [Curbed]
· De Niro Jumps on FiDi Bandwagon: Nobu Hotel Coming! [Curbed]

CurbedWire Special: De Niro's FiDi Hotel NOT at 50 Broad

FINANCIAL DISTRICT—We were wondering how Robert De Niro's Nobu Hotel would fit 140 hotel rooms and condo units into the smallish horseshoe of 50 Broad Street, and now we know: the Nobu Hotel will not be at 50 Broad Street, as reported. Here's the story:

There is work being done at 50 Broad St., which may have confused the matter, but the work is being led by the long-term ownership, 50 Broad Street Inc., as part of a multi-million dollar restoration project to improve the buildings systems and restore its stone façade, among other improvements. Cushman & Wakefield is the leasing and managing agent for the property and is overseeing the project.

So where is this darn thing going? It turns out that the correct site is 45 Broad Street, which used to be the building at right but is being turned into a 47-story mixed-use building (that'd be your Nobu Hotel) by developer Kent Swig's Swig Equities. [CurbedWire Inbox]

De Niro Jumps on FiDi Bandwagon: Nobu Hotel Coming!

By now, the Financial District is used to office building conversions, so what latest FiDi transaction could possibly steal away our attention on the day Renzo Piano's new Whitney Museum is revealed? How about the Nobu Hotel, coming to 50 Broad Street from Robert De Niro and his broker son, Raphael. The horseshoe-shaped building, the Post's Braden Keil reports, will have 140 units and be split up as a hotel/condo. The name obviously comes from De Niro's still shit-hot chain of upscale Japanese restaurants, and the Nobu Hotel will be Japanese themed, offering a new Nobu outpost as well as minibars loaded with sake and complimentary samurai swords for committing hara-kiri (OK, that last one is our idea). This will actually be the second Nobu Hotel when it opens in two to four years, as one will open this summer in Israel. So, does this mean that De Niro's Greenwich Hotel is already old news? Possibly, and we still haven't made it inside the thing!

Massive PropertyShark photo of 50 Broad this way. >>

De Niro Shows Off His Hotel, Offers Some Bargains

The reason Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca has been under such lock and key? Down By The Hipster explains, and it's just as we expected: a Vanity Fair exclusive photo shoot! The short story has a few shots of the David Rockwell interiors, and some fun factoids. For example, were you aware that the art hanging behind the check-in desk (right) was painted by Bobby's late father? Now you know, and knowledge is power. The Greenwich Hotel website has also relaunched, featuring a few glimpses of the fun inside, but unfortunately the real showstoppers—the Greenwich Suite, the N Moore Suite and the full-floor Penthouse—are not done yet, so no pictures. The online reservation system is online, however, and you can snag a room this weekend for as low as $475 per night! Quite a departure from the $700+ per night charged during the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival.
· The Greenwich Hotel [Official Site]
· In Which We Almost Get Inside the Greenwich Hotel [Curbed]
· DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel to Squeak When Walked Upon [Curbed]

Celebrity Real Estate Wrap: Duncan Chic, Hudson Square Attracts Heavies, More

1) Spring Awakening composer and recovering pop musician Duncan Sheik had a good 1999. It was in those pre-boom days that Sheik bought a 2,400-square-foot raw loft at 195 Hudson Street for a bit over $850,000. He turned it into a swingin' live/work space, building out an entire recording studio where he laid down some hot tracks with Jay-Z (OK, not really, but Jay does own the penthouse). Now, old man Sheik wants to separate his life from his work, so he's moving to Gramercy Park and selling the Tribeca loft. He's asking for a cool $2.85 million, following—per the listing—a "$75,000 price improvement!" [Big Deal/Josh Barbanel]

2) The wilds of West Chelsea are no place to raise a family, so husband-and-wife Daily Show correspondents Samantha Bee and Jason Jones bought an $835,000 condo in Extell's Avery on the Upper West Side. Oops, exuse us, "Riverside South." [The Real Deal]

3) The glassy 505 Greenwich, over in Hudson Square just off Spring Street, reportedly has Joel Schumacher, André 3000 and Robert De Niro sniffing it out. This sounds slightly suspicious, because these guys could probably pool their resources and just buy all of Tribeca if they wanted to. They don't need to be near the Tunnel. [S. Jhoanna Robledo/NYMag]

4) The Irving Place co-op owned by late film critic Joel Siegel was sold for $1.95 million to an In Style editor. Wow, and we thought magazines were a dying breed. [The Real Estate]