NY nesting News

After four years of renovation Law & Order Star B.D. Wong is finally agreeing to show his apartment to the New York Times. Mr. Wong bought the 2,900-square foot ground floor loft with a subterranean bedroom on East 4th Street in 2005 for $1.25 million and has since renovated it with the help of architect Jack Wettling, who also helped renovate three former apartments that in which Mr. Wong has resided.

The magical 750-unit “Pyramid” development project at 625 West 57th Street, designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, will not stick to the LEED checklist and possibly not receive a proper certification. The developer, The Durst Organization wants to be more innovative and employ its own environmental criteria, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Jared Kushner has acquired a $53 million portfolio of seven walk-up buildings, and is up to increase it to $58 million by purchasing an eighth. The walk-ups are located in Manhattan’s eternally trendy East Village, SoHo and West Village. They were purchased from Benchmark. The NY Post reports that Mr. Kushner started with buying just one walk-up, but he and the representative of Benchmark, “hit it off and decided to give him some more”. Jared Kushner may only be 31 years old, but the handsome and ultra successful businessman obviously understands how to wheel and deal.

The townhouse at 26 East 73rd Street in Manhattan’s Upper East Side has sold for $21million, which makes it the most valuable sale of the week. The six-floor, five-bedroom and five-bathroom townhouse was built in the 1890’s, has five fireplaces, a sweeping staircase and a charming rooftop garden. Alexander McMillan Welch, according to the NY Times, designed it. It had been on the market for 56 weeks and was completely renovated between 2005 and 2007. The seller bought the townhouse in 2007 for $18 million.

Chilean-born decorator and designer Juan Pablo Molyneux, who designed the incredibly hyped penthouse at City Spire, denies that the design of the apartment is his, according to the NY Times. Mr. Molyneux told the NY Times that he drew the original plans for the layout 18 years ago, but then was excluded by the developer and owner Steven Klar before he had the chance to execute his plans for the actual penthouse.

The board of the NYC apartment building has sued the developer Moinian Group, and claims that the developer diverted funds for their new project, an adjacent luxury apartment building, according to the Real Deal.

The Atelier Board of managers also claimed that Moinian failed to get a permanent for certificate of occupancy and failed to replace a broken HVAC system, which caused the pool to be shut down and let water drain into the children’s playroom.

Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to be residing at a luxury condominium in The Trump Soho, Curbed has reported. He is shooting a new movie with Martin Scorsese’s called, “The Wolf of Wall Street”. The film is a New York period crime thriller starring Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.

IMDB.com says about the movie:

Hollywood legend, and potential possessor of aging attic portrait, Goldie Hawn currently lives on West 57th Street at Central Park Place, but she was recently seen checking out another apartment on West 57th. The Sheffield at 322 West 57th Street in Manhattan's Midtown West allegedly has her attention. She is eyeing a 4BR/4BA apartment (#54T2) on the 54thfloor, according to the NY Post. The $7.6 million-apartment has a library, playroom, formal dining room and a family room.

The commercial building at 1059 Third Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has been purchased for $31.5 million by a first-time NYC developer. The buyer had a huge interest in the property, and the buyer was selected due to his ability to pay all in cash within 30 days. No word on if this was delivered in a delightfully suspicious briefcase full of Ben Franklins.

This week the Brodsky Organization unveiled 135 East 79 Street’s new facade on its newly released property website. The 19-story building, which was the former location of the Hunter College School for Social Work, is going to have apartments sizing from 2 to 5 bedrooms with prices ranging from $6.8 million to $20+ million. So, you know, a steal. Interested brokers and buyers have the opportunity to call dibs on their preferred bedroom number. The designer of 135 East 79th is William Sofield, who wants the property to be a throwback to vintage city styles.

The residential building at 88 Lexington Avenue, nearby Manhattan’s historical Gramercy Park, has been sold for $82M, according to The Real Deal. It was purchased by Halstead Management Company for $32 million in 2007. That is an increase of $50 million or 156% in just five years. The new owner is the New York-based real estate investment management company Westbrook Partners.

The oldest building on 5th Avenue between 59th and 110th street was listed for $25 million and has been sold for $32 million, which is nearly 30% above asking price. Not too shabby. The building located at 815 Fifth Avenue has approximately 10,000 square feet, which is divided into 12 apartments and two offices. The seller purchased the building in the 1950’s for $120,000 and converted it into a residential building, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The re-development of the nearly empty building at 220 Central Park South seems to be experiencing a deadlock. Developer Extell Development Co. has a lease for the parking garage until 2018, and they apparently do not see a reason to end it early. Developer Vornado Realty Trust is the developer of 220 Central Park South and is prevented from touching the building as long as Extell occupies the garage. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vornado has wanted to raise the building and replace it with a condominium tower since 2005.

Sobering news from Manhattan, just outside of the Empire State Building (ESB) today, 10 people were shot, according to Reuters. Two, unfortunately were fatally wounded. The shooter, Jeffrey Johnson (53) shot indiscriminately into the crowd in front of the popular tourist spot, after killing a former co-worker (41). Some construction workers around the ESB tried to catch and stop the shooter. Once the police came out of the Empire State Building and the shooter pointed the gun at them the police stopped him with a shot to the head.

Jennifer Rush, American/German pop singer and known worldwide for the single “Power of Love”, sold her Upper West Side apartment at The San Remo, which is located at 145-146 Central Park West. The 2,450-square-foot, 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment had been on the market for 10 weeks before it was sold for $700,000 over asking price. I guess that’s the power of real estate. The buyer was John Zeiler, CEO of Hudson Housing Capital, according to The Real Deal.