From left: Tina Knowles with her daughter Beyonce, the interior of Tina’s former apartment and the exterior of One Beacon Court

Fashion designer Tina Knowles, the mother of pop singer Beyonce, is moving into her daughter’s apartment at One Beacon Court, an inside source told The Real Deal. Knowles, known for designing outfits for her daughter’s former pop group, Destiny’s Child, now heads up Miss Tina by Tina Knowles, a women’s clothing line sold at Walmart. As the New York Post recently reported, Knowles recently signed a contract to sell her Beacon Court condominium unit, at 151 East 58th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, for $5.6 million.

Beyonce owns an apartment on an upper floor of the 105-unit building, developed by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by architect Cesar Pelli, but does not live there, the source said. [more]

Dreier and his two Hampton homes

The driving force behind Marc Dreier’s $380 million Ponzi scheme was
simple: he wanted a beachfront house in the Hamptons, according to a
new interview with Vanity Fair’s Bryan Burrough. The Manhattan lawyer,
59, who is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for
fraud in the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center, said he thought
it would make him “happy again” after a series of professional
disappointments and a painful divorce. And so, Dreier explained, he
began by selling the non-existent debt of client and New York real
estate developer Sheldon Solow to hedge funds. “I was very, very
caught up in seeing the criteria of success in terms of professional
and financial achievement, which I think was a big part of the
problem,” Dreier said. His scheme unraveled when he was caught
impersonating a Toronto lawyer, just five days before news of the
Bernard Madoff scandal broke. [more]

From left: Marc Dreier’s home at 1 Beacon Place was auctioned at N.Y. Bankruptcy Court today

Until last week, Marc Dreier, the high-profile lawyer accused of
swindling hedge funds and individuals out of $400 million, was living
in a glassy Midtown apartment with views of the Queensboro Bridge. Now, Dreier’s headed to prison, after receiving a sentence of 20 years
on July 13, and somebody else is moving into his old digs. This afternoon, at the court-ordered auction of the property, a buyer
identified only as “bidder No. 288” walked away with the four-bedroom
condo for $8.2 million. [more]

Marc Dreier’s One Beacon Court unit to be auctioned

Disgraced lawyer
Marc Dreier’s apartment at One Beacon Court, between Lexington and Third avenues and 58th and 59th streets, is expected to be auctioned
off on July 21. Dreier pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded hedge
funds of $700 million. Dreier’s 7,000-square-foot home, which he bought
for $10.4 million two years ago, will be auctioned by David R. Maltz
& Co. with no starting bid. The auction company sold Dreier’s two Southampton
properties last month. Potential bidders must come with a $500,000
certified check payable to the trustee of Dreier’s personal assets. The
check will never be collected or cashed, Maltz explained. “It is just
to guarantee that only serious bidders participate.” [more]

Marc Dreier’s (center) two East Quogue homes

Two of disgraced attorney Marc Dreier’s three Hamptons homes will hit the auction block June 17. David R. Maltz & Co. will auction the homes at 109 and 111 Dune Road in East Hampton, which Dreier purchased in 2004 and 2005 for a total of $11.6 million. The 7,000-square-foot home at 111 Dune Road has eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms on 2.4 acres, according to the auction company’s Web site. The 109 Dune Road home is 3,000 square feet, with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and an easement that provides direct access to the beach, according to the Web site. Dreier was arrested for securities fraud in December. TRD [more]

Auction company David R. Maltz & Co. has been retained to sell two of the three Hamptons homes owned by disgraced attorney Marc Dreier, as well as his Manhattan condominium. Dreier’s properties could be listed on the auction firm’s Web site as soon as next week. The Southampton homes are at 109 and 111 Dune Road, and Dreier purchased them for $11.6 million about five years ago. He reportedly paid $5.4 million for his apartment at 151 East 58th Street two years ago. Dreier was arrested for securities fraud in December. [more]

Disgraced attorney Marc Dreier’s three Hamptons homes are about to hit the market. A Manhattan federal judge yesterday approved plans for a bankruptcy trustee to sell two neighboring beachfront houses in East Quogue “as soon as possible … in order to maximize the proceeds.” A March report from a court-appointed receiver said Hamptons real estate agents estimated that the Dune Road properties could be sold together for at least $12.5 million. Dreier, who is expected to plead guilty next month to allegedly selling $700 million worth of fake promissory notes, bought the properties in 2004 and 2005 for a total of $11.6 million. Dreier’s third home is in Westhampton.