Vohra at the Sikh Inaugural Ball

A self-proclaimed sugar daddy, frequenter of “hook-up sites” and Nest Seekers broker has been arrested on a first-degree rape charge, according to the New York Post. Lakhinder Vohra, 47, who also went by the online handle “Daddy Loves Arm Candy,” was arrested after being accused of attacking a woman he met on SeekingArrangement.com — which pairs young women, or “sugar babies,” with deep-pocketed and often much older men — in his luxury Financial District apartment.  [more]

From left: the exterior and interior of 40 Meadow Lane and Eddie Shapiro, founder of Nest Seekers International

A high-profile Hamptons broker team lead by Laura Nigro has decamped for Nest Seekers International, following nearly a decade with Douglas Elliman’s Bridgehampton and Southampton offices, The Real Deal has learned. The team, consisting of Nigro, her brother Carl Nigro, and his wife Lucie Safonov, will open a new Nest Seekers office in Bridgehampton, Nigro said. [more]

Eddie Shapiro

From the October issue: Eddie Shapiro prefers to remain an enigma. On a recent summer afternoon, the founder of residential brokerage Nest Seekers International is clad in his own version of business casual: a slim-fitting white suit and black loafers, his longish brown hair slicked back, his goatee clipped, his burgundy tie dotted with tiny skulls.

“To an extent, I like to keep a lot of things in our [firm’s] business a mystery,” Shapiro said. Then he quoted a line from the 1997 film “The Devil’s Advocate”: “No matter how good you are, don’t ever let them see you coming.” [more]

The Laureate and Nick Jabbour

A U.K.-based CEO of a conglomerate of companies has purchased three units at the Laureate in a bulk deal, Nest Seekers’ Nick Jabbour, the broker who represented the buyer in the deal, confirmed today.

The executive purchased a penthouse and two lower-floor units at the property in a deal valued at a total $21.88 million, Jabbour said. The penthouse at 2150 Broadway, and West 75th Street, traded for $11.55 million, while a five-bedroom spread on the 14th floor closed for $8.8 million and a one-bedroom unit on the 11th floor sold for $1.53 million, public records show. The latter two units closed for less than their asking prices, which were $10.5 million and $1.82 million respectively. [more]

Rado Varchola

Rado Varchola, a top broker at Citi Habitats, joined Nest Seekers International today, The Real Deal has learned. Citi Habitats named Varchola the Top Individual of the year by overall production and Top Individual of the year in sales in 2011.

Varchola, whose business is focused on Manhattan sales, said he was attracted to Nest Seekers for the brokerage’s emphasis on sales, rather than rentals, as well as its “high quality” marketing materials and advertising campaigns. [more]

Katherine GaleKatherine Gale joined the Long Island brokerage Daniel Gale Sotheby’s last month — making her the fourth generation in her family to work at the firm, which her great-grandfather founded in 1922. Her grandfather Kent still serves as the company’s chairman and her father, Stan, started there before launching the development firm Gale International in 1999.

Prior to joining the firm, Katherine, 26, who holds an MBA, spent a year as an agent in Nest Seekers’ Midtown Manhattan office…. [more]

From left: the View and Silvette Julian

A penthouse at the View in Long Island City has hit the market with an asking price of $3.25 million, listing broker Silvette Julian of Nestseekers confirmed to The Real Deal today. If the duplex sold for that price, that would make the unit the most expensive condominium ever sold in Queens.

The three-bedroom, four-bathroom unit is one of nine penthouses at the 18-story luxury building overlooking the East River. The corner, west-facing duplex is being sold by the buyer who originally purchased it from the sponsor, for $2.65 million in 2008, Julian said. [more]

Jones and Rose show how LOH Vision works

A new technology may give fresh meaning to the term ‘window shopper.’ Launched last week, Live Open House Vision turns storefront listings into virtual open houses.

Here’s how it works: Whereas many brokerage firms line their windows with listings printed on letter-size paper, LOH Vision transforms that concept into an interactive experience.  A touchscreen the size of a large television, installed to appear in the storefront window, features local listings, which prospective customers can personalize according to their preferences. Firms that use the technology can choose to add a news ticker, featuring breaking real estate news — including coverage from The Real Deal. [more]

NestSeekers' Ryan Serhant and the office at 156 Reade Street

Riding on the recent success of “Million Dollar Listing New York,” TV star and NestSeekers International broker Ryan Serhant has been tapped by his firm to head its newest office at 156 Reade Street in Tribeca, he told The Real Deal yesterday.

The 2,000-square-foot Tribeca storefront, NestSeekers’ 10th, will house 40 agents over two floors, Serhant said. The official Serhant team, which currently includes seven NestSeekers employees and is housed at 415 Madison Avenue, is slated to expand to 17 to occupy the space in the coming months, he said. The executive vice president is aggressively recruiting outside the firm. Other NestSeekers agents will relocate from other office to fill the remainder of the space. [more]

From left: Ryan Serhant, senior vice president of NestSeekers, and the exterior and interior of the freestanding mansion at 2134 Ocean Parkway (credit: Rich Caplan)

A 9,200-square-foot single-family Brooklyn home at 2134 Ocean Parkway has come on the market today, making it the largest freestanding residence currently for sale in the borough. The property, which has been owned by the same family since 1992, has an asking price of $14 million, $4 million more than Brooklyn’s second most expensive independent residence, a renovated townhouse at 36 Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights, which is asking $10 million. [more]