Earlier this week, The Real Deal
checked out Penthouse A at the Lucida, the new LEED-certified
condominium by Extell Development at 151 East 85th Street. Gumley Haft
Kleier head honcho Michele Kleier, who has the exclusive listing on the
$8.95 million duplex, was hosting a party for brokers there that
evening while filming for HGTV’s second season of realty reality show “Selling New York”
(see photos from the event above). Kleier and her daughters, Sabrina
Kleier Morgenstern and Samantha Kleier Forbes, along with brokers from
Core (who were not in attendance at the party), star in the show, which
Morgenstern said is tentatively set to return in early winter.
The 110-unit Lucida
is about 85 percent sold, said Raizy Haas, senior vice president of
development at Extell, who was outfitted with a microphone for the
night in anticipation of her guest appearance on the episode. The
building’s other available units, which are being marketed by Corcoran
Sunshine Marketing Group, range from a $2.83 million two-bedroom pad to
the $10 million three-bedroom Penthouse B.
Much like the show itself, it was an unabashedly extravagant evening.
Close to 200 guests sampled sushi while models wearing Dennis Basso
furs strolled in and out of the 3,326-square-foot, air-conditioned
spread and its much steamier, 980-square-foot wraparound terrace with
open views to the north, south and west. (Basso was previewing his fall
collection there that night, and each guest received a $1,000 gift
certificate to his Madison Avenue boutique, where some furs cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars). Toward the end of the night, Bryan
Siegel and Mark Wenitzky of Bank of America raffled off an iPad, dinner
at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse and days at Bliss Spa.
Not everyone was won over. “If they have to pay you $1,000 to get you here…” one broker snarked.
Aside from the “Selling New York” cast, top brokers in attendance
included Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead Property; Barbara Fox,
president of Fox Residential Group; Loy Carlos and Beth Fisher of the
Corcoran Group; S. Jean Meisel and Richard Ferrari of Brown Harris
Stevens; Kirk Henckels of Stribling & Associates; and Roger
Erickson, Mara Flash Blum and Nikki Field of Sotheby’s International
Realty. Jeffrey Kaye of the Gotham Organization and Steven Bauer of
Cushman & Wakefield also made appearances.
