Stuart Elliott

From the May issue: The Real Deal is firing up the klieg lights and rolling out the red carpet.
This month will see the premiere of our first full-length documentary feature film. Called “Building Stories,” it’s a look at the most prolific architect in New York City, Costas Kondylis, who has added an incredible 86 towers to the skyline here but is a relative unknown to the average man on the street.
The film, which features interviews with real estate bigwigs like Donald Trump, Larry Silverstein, Richard Meier, Aby Rosen and many others, will be screened as part of an invite-only event May 11 at the Morgan Library in Midtown. Later this month, check out our website for more information about the film’s public release date. [more]

In the video above about the country’s richest celebrities, HLN Showbiz Tonight looked at one of the places those bigwigs spend their money — New York City real estate. Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern, an executive vice president at Gumley Haft Kleier, said there are at least three celebs who are interested in New York City real estate — Nicole Kidman (who recently bought a fourth-floor unit at 200 11th Avenue for $9.6M), newly-hitched Kelsey Grammer (who along with his new wife, Kayte Walsh, checked out a $9.9 million Plaza condo) and Jennifer Aniston (who is close to a deal on a West Village penthouse).

The Real Deal dropped by the London NYC Hotel’s penthouse last night for a soiree thrown in honor of Boca Raton’s One Thousand Ocean condominium, the ultra-luxe 52-unit property that debuted last year to an uncharacteristic flurry of sales activity.

After years of uncertainty due to ownership change-ups and battles with neighbors, and in spite of South Florida’s weak condo sales market, developer LXR Luxury Resort & Hotels saw more than $45 million in closings within three weeks of the oceanfront building’s February 2010 launch. Now, with 18 units left to market for between $2.6 million and $15 million apiece, the developer has turned to New York City’s Gumley Haft Kleier for help reaching the crowd up north.

It’s the first official foray into South Florida for the Kleier clan, executive vice president Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern told us at last night’s event, which she hosted with her mother, president Michele Kleier, and sister, executive vice president Samantha Kleier Forbes, and which was filmed for HGTV’s “Selling New York.” It also comes at a time when the boutique firm is making an effort to branch out into the new development arena. [more]

From left: famed Holocaust scholar Robert Jay Lifton, a bedroom inside 300 Central Park West, 300 Central Park West’s exterior, the living room at 157 West 87th Street and the building’s exterior

A combination of two rarely available El Dorado apartments — one of them the former home of famed Holocaust scholar Robert Jay Lifton — has already generated a near-asking-price offer since hitting the market last week, brokers said. Cathy Taub, an executive vice president at Stribling & Associates, has listed Lifton’s old stomping grounds at 300 Central Park West for $7.2 million. The eight-room co-op, 7G, is now owned by one of the richest families in the country, the MacArthurs, according to broker sources. The unit can be sold individually, or for $13.4 million, combined with the adjacent apartment to create a 15-room spread. Also, a townhouse that hit the market today for $4.95 million comes with a waterfall. The four-story brownstone at 157 West 87th Street is listed with Vandenberg, the Townhouse Experts. Click here for more.

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The Real Deal has had an action-packed schedule. We hit up the Charity: Water event at 123 East 10th Street, the largest and priciest home available in the East Village, hosted by Rubicon Property. We stopped by Core’s cocktail party on the 17th floor of 812 Fifth Avenue, which was recently redesigned by architect Joseph Dirand. We also dropped by the Griffin Court condominium in Hell’s Kitchen, where Gumley Haft Kleier was hosting a viewing party of this week’s HGTV’s realty reality show “Selling New York.” Meanwhile, back at the office we were letting our fingers do the walking and got some fun nuggets. Click here for more. [more]

From left: Dean Spanos and Trump Park Avenue

Dean Spanos — president of the San Diego Chargers football team and son of Greek-born real estate developer Alexander Spanos — has sold his two-bedroom condominium unit at the Trump Park Avenue for $5.3 million, the Observer reported. The 1,813-square-foot unit, located on the 18th floor of the tower at 502 Park Avenue, sold for just under its $5.5 million asking price posted in April, close to $1 million more than Spanos paid for the unit in 2007. [more]

From left: Ken Krasnow of Massey Knakal Realty Services; Eastern Consolidated’s Ety Lee; Eastern Consolidated’s Jerome Benayoum; and Lon Rubackin, a managing director at GFI Capital

Commercial brokerage firm Massey Knakal Realty Services has temporarily replaced Kenneth Krasnow, the managing director of the firm’s Brooklyn office, because he is not licensed as required by the New York State Department of State, company CEO Paul Massey told The Real Deal this morning.

Krasnow had been the head of the Brooklyn office since 2008. He will be replaced by Cory Rosenthal, corporate vice president, until Krasnow obtains his license, Massey said.

“[In the] interim, Cory Rosenthal, corporate vice president, will take over day to day management of Queens and Brooklyn until Ken resolves the license issue,” Massey said.
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From left: 995 Fifth Avenue, 535 West End Avenue, the Lucida and Michele Kleier

Gumley Haft Kleier, the boutique New York City brokerage made nationally famous by HGTV’s “Selling New York” last year, is “very seriously considering opening up a division to represent new developments,” co-president Michele Kleier told the New York Times. The television starlet has been getting lots of business from Gary Barnett’s Extell Development lately, including trophy listings at 995 Fifth Avenue, 535 West End Avenue and the Lucida. Four or five listings in another new development are also coming her way soon, she said, declining to identify the property. “I would love to represent a whole building,” Kleier said. “Truthfully, we have never been set up for it.” [NYT] [more]

Core founder and HGTV’s “Selling New York” star Shaun Osher is relaunching his “Core Talks” webisode series with the help of a real estate pro who’s already warmed to the camera. In the living room of her $27.5 million listing at the former Stanhope Hotel, “Selling New York” co-star Michele Kleier, of Gumley Haft Kleier, chatted with Osher about the current real estate environment and about how she got into the industry nearly 30 years ago. Now, she said, “I think you and I are two of the only really strong boutique firms that are around.” But despite her newfound reality television fame, Kleier remains, in her own words, “very old fashioned.” She told Osher, “I am not a person who you will find on e-mail all the time… I hate it when I’m out with somebody and they’re looking at an apartment and they’re on their e-mail. It’s like, so irritating. You know, give me 10 minutes.”

Corcoran agent Matthew Lenahan

While New York City real estate agents need thick skin — enduring a cutthroat industry with infighting, mind games and, at times, harsh environs — there’s one jungle that most of them would not be prepared for: the Nicaraguan wilderness. But one agent, Matthew Lenahan from the Corcoran Group, who specializes in the Harlem market and whose listings include units in the Soha 118 at 301 West 118th Street, will face a challenge unthinkable by most. He is among the cast members for the new season of “Survivor,” set to debut Sept. 15, during which time contests will face numerous mental and physical challenges, in a bid to win a $1 million grand prize. In addition to his name appearing on the Corcoran website, it can be found on an online “Survivor” fan page.
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