Hassan Nemazee and the apartment at 770 Park Avenue

A Park Avenue residence that once served as the home of convicted white collar fraudster Hassan Nemazee has found a buyer after two years on the market, according to property records filed today. The apartment, at 770 Park Avenue, sold for $17.75 million to Marina Shields Purcell, the half-sister of Hollywood actress Brooke Shields, and her husband Thomas Purcell. [more]

Time Warner Center and James Nicholson

The U.S. Marshal’s office has unloaded the Time Warner Center condo that belonged to James Nicholson, the ex-hedge fund boss who currently resides at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan while awaiting sentencing for swindling investors out… [more]

Time Warner Center and James Nicholson

The U.S. Marshal’s office has unloaded the Time Warner Center condo that belonged to James Nicholson, the ex-hedge fund boss who currently resides at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan while awaiting sentencing for swindling investors out… [more]

Bernard Madoff and his former penthouse apartment at 133 East 64th Street

Bernie Madoff’s Upper East Side penthouse, last listed for $8.9 million, has gone into contract for an undisclosed price, according to the Wall Street Journal. The buyer is also as-yet unknown. As The Real Deal first reported last month, brokers seeking to show the 133 East 64th Street home had been told there was an accepted offer on the seized duplex co-op, which was being sold by the United States Marshals Service. Sotheby’s International Realty brokers Anne Corey and Serena Boardman had the listing, which came on the market in September for $9.9 million and saw a $1 million price chop in November. … [more]

The year 2009 was a trying time to be a real estate broker, developer or investor, but it never lacked for news. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the industry watched in awe — and sometimes horror — as residential sales ground to a virtual halt, condo projects stopped in their tracks, office rents shrank and retail stores disappeared. Buyers at buildings like 22 Renwick sued to get out of their contracts, and some were granted the opportunity to back out of their contracts. Meanwhile, an amazing cast of characters — from Kent Swig to Harry Macklowe to Lev Leviev — publicly fought for survival. There were also glimmers of hope, from the opening of the High Line in June to the expansion of Halstead Property into Connecticut to the sale of Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld’s sale 16-room co-op apartment at 640 Park Avenue for $25.87 million, almost $5 million more than he bought it for two years ago. Click here to see The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2009…. [more]