Stephen Ross and 400 West 12th Street

The deed for an unlisted fourth-floor condominium at the Related Companies’ recently record-breaking Superior Ink condominium was quietly transferred earlier this month to the Related mastermind himself, CEO Stephen Ross. The price of unit 4J at 400 West 12th Street? Zero dollars, of course — and it isn’t the first time. Ross currently lives in a sprawling, 9,290-square-foot penthouse at the Time Warner Center, which he “bought” in 2006 for an equally-low $0. And in June, Curbed reported that Superior Ink apartment #6D went in a freebie transfer to Susan De Franca, president of sales at Related. Ross wasn’t immediately available for comment, and since a listing for unit 4J never surfaced, not much information is available about the new spread. But by comparison, unit 3J, which went into contract last month, was last listed for $5.125 million. Click here for more.

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The 16-room Park Avenue duplex of the late Lionel Pincus has found a buyer, a spokesperson for his sons told the Wall Street Journal. The $12.5 million, 7,000-square-foot spread at 733 Park Avenue was the lesser of two trophy apartments that belonged to the Warburg Pincus financier. The other, a duplex at the Pierre Hotel once listed for $50 million, grabbed headlines for years as Pincus’ sons battled over its control with Princess Firyal of Jordan, their father’s longtime companion. [more]

The Pierre and Princess Firyal of Jordan

The sprawling Pierre Hotel duplex apartment owned by late financier Lionel Pincus has been handed over to Pincus’ longtime companion, Princess Firyal of Jordan, after years of legal disputes. Pincus, who died in October after being incapacitated since 2003, had left the 7,000-square-foot co-op to the Princess in the case that he still owned it at the time of his death. When Pincus’ sons listed the apartment on the market in 2007, attempting to sell it first for $50 million, and then for $35 million by March 2008, Firyal tried to block the sale. The brothers had argued that the upkeep on the unit was too expensive, and that they planned to donate the sale’s proceeds to charity, but that Firyal was impeding their efforts. Court documents show that a settlement was filed Oct. 15, days after Pincus’ death, and the apartment was no longer listed on the market as of Oct. 19. Brokers told the New York Times that Firyal would need the co-op board’s approval if she were to try to sell the apartment. [NYT]

From left: 2 East 61st Street, 161 Ninth Avenue (Right photo source: PropertyShark)

The priciest Manhattan home to hit the market this week is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom co-op unit in the Pierre Hotel, while the cheapest Manhattan home to come online this week is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom co-op in Chelsea, at 161 Ninth Avenue according to Streeteasy.com. [more]

A court complaint filed yesterday accuses Princess Firyal of Jordan, companion of financier Lionel Pincus, of impeding the sale of Pincus’ 7,000-square-foot duplex at the Pierre Hotel at East 61st Street. Pincus’ sons, Matthew and Henry, who filed the papers in New York State Supreme Court, say they want to sell the apartment partly because the upkeep is so expensive. The proceeds of the sale are to go to charity unless Pincus dies before it is sold, in which case it would go to Princess Firyal. She has argued in past court filings that Pincus bought the apartments for them to live in together, giving her a right to the property even though they have never lived there together. The property is available now as one or two units. The asking price last year was $50 million. Pincus’ sons were reportedly close to selling one of the two units for $18 million earlier this year, but the deal fell through. [NYT] and [NYO] [more]

After four months of weakness in hotel occupancy, the outlook is getting brighter for the local hospitality industry. According to Smith Travel Research, the U.S. hotel industry posted
declines in the three key performance measurements during the week of
April 26 to May 2, 2009. Year-over-year, the room occupancy rate fell 11.6 percent to 55.7
percent in the week ending May 2. The average daily room rate dropped
8.6 percent to $99.41, the data shows. The revenue per available room,
or revpar, for the week decreased 19.1 percent to $55.53. [more]