79 Horatio Street (left) and 104 East 10th StreetThe sale of a 6,750-square-foot townhouse at 79 Horatio Street in the Meatpacking District marks the beginning of a repositioning of the William Gottlieb family’s holdings of more than 100 downtown properties that brokers estimate to be worth as much as $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The townhouse, which closed last month for under $7 million, was listed in May, along with a three-story building at 104 East 10th Street, by Neil Bender, Gottlieb’s nephew. “We are currently disposing of two properties that do not fit with the company’s development and growth plans,” said Gregg Sullivan, a spokesperson for the estate, whose heirs have been feuding for years over property rights.
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Multi-million dollar heir Neil Bender won a major coup yesterday when an appellate court ruled that he was fit to manage the 150-property Manhattan real estate portfolio that once belonged to his late uncle William Gottlieb, which his mother left to Bender in her will. His relatives have tried to wrest the collection of properties, including the Keller Hotel, the Northern Dispensary and the New Holland Hotel, located mostly in the West Village and Meatpacking District, from his control since July 2007, in a public family feud, according to the Wall Street Journal. A group of Bender’s relatives, including his sister Cheryl Dier and his nephew Michael Corbett, had alleged that he swindled them out of their share of the real estate portfolio, which has an estimated value of $1 billion. Among Dier’s claims were that Bender’s alcohol consumption was out of control, deeming him an “habitual drunkard.” But a judge decided that there was little proof that his purportedly boozy habits would “affect his ability to handle estate affairs sufficiently.” [WSJ]

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Relatives of the late William Gottlieb continue to feud over his extensive estate, which may be worth more than $1 billion. The real estate mogul’s properties include 150 historic buildings in the West Village, Greenwich Village and Chelsea, including the Keller Hotel, the Northern Dispensary and the New Holland Hotel. Gottlieb’s grand-nephew, Michael Corbett, says he was promised a one-quarter share of the estate by his grandmother, Gottlieb’s sister, Mollie. When her final will was revealed after her death in July 2007, however, Michael had been cut out, leaving Neil Bender, Mollie’s son, as the sole beneficiary. Corbett says Bender cheated him, his mother, and Mollie’s other grandchild out of their inheritance, which was supposed to split into four equal parts, according to a previous will. The case, which seeks to overturn a previous decision by a Manhattan Surrogate Court judge, will be argued in appellate court tomorrow.