Dolly Lenz of Prudential Douglas Elliman (credit: Curbed) Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Dolly Lenz talks New York City luxury real estate, telling Bloomberg Television, “the buyer has the most power in the $3 million range,” if they can get a mortgage (see video here). “If they are ready to jump, they are gonna get a deal,” in the current market, the vice chairman said. She also explains why the residential market doesn’t seem to be moving — a bunch of new development hit in the third quarter, making fourth-quarter sales look comparably sluggish — and why prices won’t be lagging, even if sales do, anytime soon — ”there’s no place else to put [your] money!”

Another 15 Central Park West apartment has just hit the market for a massive $35 million, the New York Observer reported, and could break a new city record. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit, which is just 3,368 square feet, is asking $10,391 per square foot, which would set a record as the first city unit to break five-figures on a per square foot basis.

The price may be ambitious, the Observer noted, given the fact that a comparable unit on the 31st floor, 16 stories higher than unit 15B, just sold for just $24 million, or $7,563 per square foot. But listing broker Dolly Lenz, vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, may be banking on the “Weill factor” — momentum generated by the successful sale of financier Sanford Weill’s 15 Central Park West apartment for $88 million earlier this month. [more]

From left: Irish investor Derek Quinlan and the exterior and interior of 54 East 64th Street

Debt-ridden Irish financier Derek Quinlan is one step closer to unloading his real estate assets around the globe, after finding a buyer for his $25 million Upper East Side townhouse.

Quinlan, who reportedly once managed a private equity fund with $15 billion under management and invested heavily in hotel developments, went into contract for the townhouse, at 54 East 64th Street, between Park and Madison avenues, Sept. 30, according to the listing.

Two months ago, Quinlan sold another mansion down the street for $23 million.

The identity of the buyer at 54 East 64th Street was not immediately clear. Fred Williams, an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty who represented Quinlan in that deal, declined to comment. [more]

Harrison Ford’s 206 West 17th Street apartment, John Madden’s 1 West 72nd Street apartment and Billy Joel’s Sagaponack home

Few things add to the cachet of a residential listing better than a recognizable owner, and Forbes gathered a list of the biggest stars whose homes are on the market. Harrison Ford’s $16 million Chelsea penthouse, John Madden’s Upper West Side apartment and Billy Joel’s Sagaponack oceanfront property each made the list (see photos above).

Ford, who starred in the original ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ series and spends most of his time in his Wyoming home, is listing his 5,664-square-foot apartment with a private roof deck at 206 West 17th Street for $16 million with Deborah Grubman and David Dubin of the Corcoran Group.
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The 12,000-square-foot mansion at 870 Park Avenue, which went on the market in 2004 and has bounced among the city’s top brokerages ever since, finally sold for $18.3 million — more than $6 million below the most recent asking price.

The 13-room property went into contract in May and closed June 24, according to papers filed with the city yesterday, and an entity called CKLM, LLC is the lucky new owner. Beyond the name, though, the purchaser’s identity is a mystery. Andrew Lippmann of Loeb & Loeb, listed as the buyer’s attorney, declined to comment, and the buyer’s contact person, as listed in city records, is Aaron Lenz — the husband of Dolly Lenz, the Prudential Douglas Elliman vice chairman who handled the sale. [more]

From left: Paula Del Nunzio, Serena Boardman, Carrie Chiang, Shlomi Reuveni and Dolly Lenz

From the June issue: In March, Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio put the Woolworth mansion at 4 East 80th Street on the market for $90 million. The listing — the priciest Manhattan residential listing ever — signaled that the era of massively expensive property sales is back, with a vengeance. Brokers say there is more high-end product on the market than last year, and furthermore, many of these new, pricey listings are resales rather than the newly constructed condos that seemed to dominate the luxury market in Manhattan for so long. That trend is reflected in The Real Deal’s annual ranking of the city’s top brokers, which is based on who is marketing the most Manhattan property.

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Stuart ElliottFrom the June issue: It’s that time of year again — time to escape the city and head to the beach. Time to trade your pumps and wingtips for flip-flops and sandals. Time to trade fluorescent office lighting for the sun beating down on your back. Time to reserve lunch tables for lobster roll shacks, get pieces of corn stuck between your teeth, and wash it all down with a beer.
With summer season in the Hamptons kicking into gear, we thought, “What better time to take a look at the biggest firms and priciest deals on the East End?”
Unlike those caught up in the migration from Manhattan, it hasn’t been vacation time for top agents out there on Long Island. In an improving market, they’ve been listing and closing deals with big seven- and eight-figure price tags. [more]

In November 2010, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group took over marketing for the troubled Apthorp building at 79th Street and Broadway, after Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Dolly Lenz resigned. The sales team, said Beth Fisher, senior managing director of Corcoran Sunshine, has closed on one unit, and an additional six are in contract, for a total of $30 million, and an average sale price of $2,000 per square foot, according to the Times. Condos on the market range from $2.65 million for a one-bedroom to $16.07 million for a 10-bedroom.

Elliman had already sold 35 condo units out of 165, many of them at discounts as steep as 30 percent off original asking prices. [more]

Tim Davis, Dolly Lenz, and 39 Cobb Hill Lane

What may be fairly obvious is that Tim Davis, with 28 listings, worth about $292 million, is one of the top brokers in the Hamptons.

Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty may have more listings in the wealthy beachside getaway, with 31, and for more expensive homes — a total of $378 million, with some prices not even disclosed. But Davis clearly is outmuscling agents like Peter Turino of Brown Harris Stevens, another major earner, whose 12 listings total $136 million.

Plus, the Corcoran Group’s Davis, a 30-year Hamptons real estate veteran, had a hand in last year’s biggest brokered deal: the $38.5 million sale of a colonial house on 15 acres to a group of buyers that included designer Tory Burch (the property was carved into three lots for the deal to happen).
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Today in startling real estate trends, the Post devotes 853 words to the allegedly “increasing” phenomenon of “rich guys…buying lavish apartments to woo women.” (Our apologies to Jennifer Aniston — apparently it doesn’t work the other way around). Says the tabloid: “the right apartment can get you laid,” and adding credence, they’ve got Prudential Douglas Elliman superbroker Dolly Lenz weighing in with her two cents: “The swagger is back in the market,” she offers. “A trophy apartment says you’ve arrived.” After the jump, the Post’s handy real estate how-to on getting a woman to sleep with you. [more]