Clockwise from top left: 35 West 12th Street, Robert Duffy, Paul Kolbusz, Sara Gelbard and Frank ArendsRobert Duffy, one of the founders of the Marc Jacobs International fashion brand, has closed on the $5.2 million purchase of a townhouse at 35 West 12th Street, one of the skinniest homes in the city, records show.

The four-story townhouse between Fifth and Sixth avenues is a mere 13.5 feet wide, sandwiched between two much taller buildings. New York’s skinniest townhouse is the 9.5-foot-wide 72 1/2 Bedford St. in the West Village, the onetime home of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and the actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore.
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Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has moved out of the 2,062-square-foot
penthouse he had been renting from Montreal Canadian hockey star Scott
Gomez at the Chelsea Mercantile at 252 Seventh Avenue since 2009, the New York Magazine reported. For $20,000 a month, he rented the property, which has an outdoor
kitchen on the terrace, five flat-screen TVs and remote-controlled
lighting. He is moving into the Superior Ink townhouse, one of six
that comprise Superior Ink, a Robert Stern-designed condominium that
reportedly includes, among numerous perks, valet bike parking for
residents. [NYMag]  [more]

The ceiling collapsed at the Marc Jacobs store in Greenwich Village on Saturday, and a large light fixture fell from the ceiling, destroying handbags, scarves and other luxury merchandise, the New York Times reported. No customers were in the store at the time and employees were unharmed.
“It just started cracking,” one of the employees said of the ceiling.
The store remained closed for the remainder of the day and the company’s press representatives did not respond to email.
Some out-of-towners were left disappointed by the closure.
“I’m shocked, really shocked,” said Sayaka Mochino, a visitor from Japan. “I want the iPad case, but they’re closed.” [NYT]

Ira Shapiro and One Madison Park One Madison Park, the embattled, 50-story condominium tower at 22 East 23rd Street, has been hit with yet another lawsuit, this time by the owner of the next-door property, which developers Ira Shapiro and his partners have been in contract to buy for $13.8 million since 2007. According to Crain’s, Abe Shrem’s Flamingo LLC, which, despite the signed contract by Shapiro, still owns 26 East 23rd Street, is claiming that the developers forged signatures and posed as the owners of the site in order to demolish part of the structure there and install a duct on a support structure there without permission. [more]

From left: Ira Shapiro, Cevdet Caner, Ian Bruce Eichner and One Madison Park

By Lauren Elkies and David Jones

Bruce Eichner, chairman of Continuum Companies, said he hopes to submit a new plan to rescue the embattled One Madison Park condominium project, as he awaits a tentative, rival agreement to sell the property to HFZ Capital Group, led by managing principal Ziel Feldman.

The move comes just weeks after One Madison developer Ira Shapiro settled with billionaire investor Cevdet Caner, who previously filed suit alleging Shapiro had exceeded his decision-making authority at the 23 East 22nd Street tower. [more]

Ian Bruce Eichner (top), Ira Shapiro and One Madison ParkThe Monaco investor who filed a lawsuit last month to block developer Ian Bruce Eichner’s bankruptcy reorganization plan for One Madison Park testified in court Monday and Tuesday that he has his own rescue plan for the troubled condominium, the Wall Street Journal reported. The investor, Cevdet Caner, said he could be ready to file the plan within days if the court granted him — not Eichner — control of the stalled Flatiron project. Under the Eichner-sponsored plan, the 50-story tower would get a $40 million infusion from Eichner, who would oversee the completion of the project. [more]

From left: One Madison Park and Ian Bruce Eichner

IStar Financial has filed papers in bankruptcy court challenging developer Ian Bruce Eichner’s reorganization plan for the 50-story One Madison Park condominium tower, according to the Wall Street Journal. The lender, which launched a foreclosure action against the unfinished tower in February, is arguing that the project’s original developers, Ira Shapiro “acted improperly” in getting Eichner involved with the project when they did not have the authority to do so. (note: correction appended) [more]

Kevin Comer, founder of Beck Street Capital, and 367-369 Bleecker Street

Real estate investment firm Beck Street Capital sold six retail condominiums in Greenwich Village for $34 million today, or $6,700 per square foot, the company said in a statement. The sale price per foot for the properties at 367-369, 382-384 and 387 Bleecker Street between West 11th and Charles streets, was the third highest on record in the United States, according to data from real estate tracking firm REIS, Beck Street said. The buyer was not identified. The spaces are occupied by retail tenants such as Burberry, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and A.P.C. Robert Knakal and James Nelson of Massey Knakal represented Beck Street in the transaction. TRD [more]

From left: One Madison Park and Ian Bruce Eichner

Developer Continuum Company is set to inject $40 million into the troubled One Madison Park residential condominium and finish up the project, after reaching a deal with developer Ira Shapiro and creditors.

The deal, which is contingent upon bankruptcy court approval, would fund the costs of a proposed restructuring on a loan from lender iStar. The lender gained control of the building from Shapiro’s Slazer Enterprises in April, after asserting that the builder had failed to pay it $12 million in interest between October 2009 and February 2010 and owed upwards of $200 million. [more]

Superior Ink and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander

Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has pulled off a successful flip at Robert A.M. Stern’s Superior Ink with the $31.5 million sale of his unfinished penthouse, and set a new record price for a downtown Manhattan condominium to boot. The Wall Street Journal reports that a foreign, non-celebrity buyer closed yesterday on the 6,300-square-foot full-floor spread after winning a bidding war, and plans to use the apartment as a pied-à-terre. [more]