A downtown magazine is looking for you. Provided, that is, you've been in a coma for the past year, you just woke up, but you haven't had the time to catch up on the news yet. Per the casting call notice:
• Guy Metcalfe, co-head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group, has finally unloaded his second-floor apartment at 15 CPW, which he purchased for $9.35 million in October and re-listed for $16.5 million a mere two weeks later. Metcalfe was forced to drop the price twice before eventually going into contract to sell the apartment in February. Now it's a done deal: The 3,822-square-foot pad has sold for $11 million. [Cityfile]
• Former UBS executive Ramesh Singh is willing to do just about anything to part ways with his duplex at 823 Park Avenue. He just chopped the price for the fourth time since putting it on the market last August, three months after he and wife Farida Khan paid $20 million for the 7,234-square-foot spread. The apartment, which started off at $24.75 million and was dropped to $21.75 million in October, was lowered to $19.95 million in February and then to $16.750 million in March. It's now priced at $14.5 million, or $5.5 million less than the couple paid for it. Ouch indeed. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Albert Hammond Jr.'s East Village apartment has gone back on the market. Hammond originally listed the two-bedroom pad at 141 East 3rd Street for $1.199 million last August, and went into contract to sell it before the buyer dropped out. He later re-listed it for $999,000, but then took it off the market altogether in January. It's now back—and cheaper than ever. Hammond's apartment can be yours for $899,000. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Warhol muse Jane Holzer has finally closed on the sale of her apartment at 23 East 74th Street. The five-bedroom home, which hit the market last June for $22.5 million, had been reduced to $16.9 million by the time it went into contract in March. The deal has now closed: Apparel mogul Jason Rabin and his wife Nicole picked up the apartment for $14.1 million. [Cityfile]
• Gossip Girl co–executive producer Joshua Safran has put his third-floor loft at 77 White Street on the market for $2.295 million. [NYM, Warburg]
• Eve Weinstein, the ex-wife of film mogul Harvey Weinstein, has lowered the price of her sixth-floor apartment at 1133 Fifth Avenue for the second time since first putting it on the market in December for $13.5 million. The four-bedroom spread, which was reduced by $1 million in February, can now be yours for $11.9 million. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• Alleged scam artist James Nicholson's Meadow Lane mansion in Southampton has been seized by authorities. The oceanfront estate, which he purchased from John and Lauren Veronis for $27 million in January—and unsuccessfully tried to resell for $33 million a few weeks later—has since been appraised for $25.5 million. [NYP]
• Three of disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier's Hamptons homes—including two neighboring mansions on Dune Road in East Quogue and a rundown Westhampton house—are about to hit the market. The East Quogue estates are expected to be listed together for around $12.5 million. [NYP]
• Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, has gone into contract to sell her Bridgehampton mansion. Originally listed for $16.3 million, the 10,000-square-foot manse is reportedly selling for under its most recent asking price of $7.9 million. [P6, Corcoran]
• Hedge funder Jason Capello paid $15.45 million for a four-bedroom condo at 40 East 66th Street. In January, he sold his 72nd floor apartment at the Time Warner Center for $16.25 million. [Real Deal]
• Former Yankee Bobby Abreu has put his 37th-floor condo at One Beacon Court on the market $7.9 million, which happens to be the same price he listed it for just last year. [Curbed, PDE]
• Daily Show executive producer David Javerbaum and his wife Debra have gone into contract to sell their two-bedroom apartment at 144 West 18th Street. The Emmy-accessorized, third-floor spread, which went on the market for $1.9 million last July and has since undergone three price cuts, was most recently listed at $1.55 million. [Cityfile, Core]
• Media investor Michael Chambers, a son of Raymond Chambers, the co-founder of Wesray Capital and a former owner of the Nets, has paid $2.75 million for a two-bedroom loft at 140 Thompson Street. [Cityfile]
• After more than a year on the market, fashion designer Adrienne Vittadini has finally sold her 4,500-square-foot house in Water Mill. The five-bedroom home, which Vittadini listed for $7.6 million in 2007 and later dropped to $6.495 million in 2008, sold for $5 million. [Newsday]
• Russell Simmons' brother Danny, who runs a gallery in Brooklyn and co-founded the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation with his brothers Russell and Rev Run, has put his 2,000-square-foot loft in Clinton Hill up for sale for $1.175 million. [WSJ, Corcoran]
• Raphael De Niro, the son of Robert De Niro and a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, has a new apartment. He and wife Claudine paid $2.9 million for a three-bedroom condo at 497 Greenwich Street. [Real Deal]
• Lily Lee Lee Wong has chopped $4.6 million off the price of her 115-year-old townhouse at 21 East 84th Street (left), which she purchased for $12.1 million in June 2007 and re-listed for $24.5 million just a month later. The 22-foot wide home is now on the market for $19.9 million. [Cityfile, Bellmarc]
• Bridgehampton's Stone Meadow Farm, which Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon paid $125,000 to rent for one week last summer, has gone into contract. It was most recently listed at $15.9 million. [Newsday, Corcoran]
• Terry Richardson is adding to his real estate portfolio. The hipster photographer has paid $3.335 million for the 2,800-square-foot, three-story former fire station located at 185 Lafayette Street. [Cityfile]
• Josh and Whitney Kroenke, the grandkids of Wal-Mart co-founder Bud Walton, have put their penthouse at 201 West 17th Street on the market. The two-bedroom pad, which the siblings purchased for $2.7 million in 2005, is listed at $2.995 million. [Cityfile, Core]
• Not everyone is feeling the squeeze in the Hamptons. Joanne Corzine, the ex-wife of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, has reportedly found someone willing to meet her $900,000 asking price to rent out her oceanfront manse in Sagaponack for the summer season. [Newsday]
• Yet another Real Housewife is making moves in the Hamptons. Days after it was reported that Kelly Killoren Bensimon and Luann de Lesseps were both looking to sell their places in the Hamptons comes word that Ramona Singer and her husband Mario are looking to rent their 7,000-square-foot Southampton home. The six-bedroom house with pool table and 70-inch flat-screen—not to mention the sunken tennis court outside, which is perfect for reality TV face-offs—will run you $295,000 for the season. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Want to rent Rick and Kathy Hilton's house in Water Mill for the summer? The 10,000-square-foot, six-bedroom home, which the Hiltons purchased for $2.385 million in 1999, is currently listed for $400,000 for season. [Newsday]
• Flavio Briatore, the Italian mogul and Heidi Klum's baby daddy, has put his apartment at the Plaza up for rent for $65,000 a month. It's not the only property he has on the market: He's been trying to unload a penthouse at One Beacon Court for $25 million since September. [NYT, Domus]
• George Hirsch, the founding publisher of New York who paid $2.7 million for an apartment at 111 Central Park North in 2007, has sold his former home at 246 East 32nd Street for $2.88 million. [Cityfile]
• The 10,000-square-foot mansion at 54 East 64th Street, which was once home to the offices of the Observer, has undergone a $9 million price cut. It's now listed for $27 million. [NYO, Sotheby's]
• The massive penthouse at 895 Park that belonged to the late fashion tycoon and movie producer (Tootsie, Showgirls) Charles Evans has undergone its third price cut since it went on the market for $29.5 million in October 2007. The four-bedroom triplex, which was discounted to $25 million in May '08 and then lowered to $20 million in October, is now on the market for just $15.5 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Matthew Bronfman has put his 9,000-square-foot mansion in Katonah, known as Treetops, up for rent. It's $28,500 a month, just so you know. [NYP]
• Gary and Charlotte DePersia, both senior vice presidents at the Corcoran Group, have sold their 5,000-square-foot, Celerie Kemble-designed home in Amagansett for $4 million. [Newsday]
This is normally the time of year when people start making plans for the summer and lock in their rentals in the Hamptons. Not this year. Last month, The Real Deal suggested the number of rental transactions was down by as much as 80 to 90 percent compared to last year at this time; today the Post offers up examples of prospective renters offering owners as little as half the official asking price. Things may very well get worse as nervous renters wait to see if prices fall further, and owners become increasingly desperate to take the first real offer that comes their way. In other words, don't be surprised if six recent college grads end up turning ex-Lehman COO Joe Gregory's $32 million Bridgehampton home into a booze-soaked share house.
Hamptons architecture buffs, take note: Now would be a good time to get a last look at Dragon's Head, the gaudy 50,000-square-foot castle in Southampton that Calvin Klein purchased several years ago. It's just a few months away from demolition now that Southampton's Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review has removed the last bit of red tape and ruled its interiors have no historical value. What can you expect to find on the property a couple of years from now? A much more low-key and minimalist manse, of course, not to mention the lilting sounds of youthful Brazilian men speaking Portuguese. [Newsday]
• Looking for a summer rental in the Hamptons? New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's estate in Sagaponack is available! You can occupy the 6,200-square-foot home from Memorial Day to Labor Day for $900,000. [Newsday, Sotheby's]
• Fashion designer (and former Marc Jacobs protege) Richard Chai paid $2 million for a 2,300-square-foot apartment at 25 Ann Street. [Cityfile]
• Indie actor Kevin Corrigan (Walking and Talking, True Romance) and his wife Elizabeth Berridge (Amadeus) have sold their fourth-floor apartment at 321 Greenwich Street for $2.39 million. [Cityfile]
It's a scary world out there what with the economy crumbling to pieces, corporate CEOs under fire, and popular resentment against Wall Street rising by the day. What do you do if, say, you're one of the few people who is actually making a fortune right now? Build up the walls around you, naturally! Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson filed an application with the Southampton Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review to "beef up" the landscaping outside the 10.4-acre estate, the one he and his wife Jenny purchased for $41.3 million in 2008.
It seems the East Hampton town board has followed through on its threat to sue Ron Baron, the dune-destroying billionaire who installed an 800-foot concrete barrier on his 40-acre Further Lane property last year and has been battling the local authorities ever since. The Post reports that Baron has been ordered to appear in court on March 16th, where he'll face eight code violations for his failure to secure the proper permits and for construction work that led to the destruction of several 3,000-year-old dunes. Baron could face four years in jail if he's ultimately convicted. But we doubt Baron will get to that point. Even if he is someone who once likened his battle to get gay men to stop having sex on the stretch of beach in front of his house to the war in Vietnam.
• Lenny Kravitz has been trying to sell his penthouse at 30 Crosby Street for the past few years; most recently, he slashed the price of the loft from $18.75 million to $14.995 million. Is he now planning to give up entirely? Over the weekend, the listing for Kravitz's 6,000-square-foot pad (which used to be located here) was pulled down from the Corcoran website, although whether the rocker plans to try again with a new broker is anybody's guess. [Cityfile]
• Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell aren't just trying to unload their apartment at Palazzo Chupi. They're looking to sell their farmhouse in Water Mill, too. The 1.2 acre estate, which includes a guesthouse, art studio, and pool, is currently listed at $8.8 million. [NYM]
