From left: Justin Timberlake, his new home in the Soho Mews, and his old building, the Pearline Soap Factory

Six months after vacating his Tribeca condominium unit for a Soho penthouse, musician and actor Justin Timberlake finally unloaded his former home, Curbed reported. The 3,000-square-foot full-floor apartment in the Pearline Soap Factory at 414 Washington Street near Vestry Street– which Timberlake purchased for $4.689 million in 2008 — was asking $4.995 million. Adam Modlin, head of the Modlin Group, had the listing, which originally asked $5.25 million. Timberlake now resides in the Charles Gwathmey-designed Soho Mews at 311 West Broadway near Canal Street, where he bought a unit for $6.57 million in December. [Curbed] Comments

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Carmelo Anthony

No surprise here: he’s not even a full week into his tenure as a New York Knick, but the real estate industry is already buzzing about where Carmelo Anthony is going to live. According to the Post, Melo is taking a page out of teammate Amar’e Stoudemire’s book by searching for a downtown rental apartment in the ballpark of $30,000 per month. (Stoudemire lives in a $37,500-a-month condominium in the West Village). Among the buildings he’s reportedly interested in are 158 Mercer Street, where Jon Bon Jovi lives, and Soho Mews at 311 West Broadway, where Justin Timberlake owns a penthouse. [more]

Albert Laboz and his latest residential development, Soho Mews

Albert Laboz, chairman of the Fulton Mall Improvement Association and developer of the glassy new Soho Mews condominium, has added another Soho property to his family’s bu [more]

In another recent coup for Soho Mews, the glitzy new condominium at 311 West Broadway whose luck appears to have turned around, famed designer Oscar de la Renta closed yesterday on a $2.4 million apartment at the Gwathmey Siegel & Associates-designed development, according to the New York Times. It’s the latest in a string of positive news for developer United American Land, which is now close to paying off its $129 million construction loan a few months prior to its maturation. The 68-unit project came on the market in 2007, but after the economy took a turn for the worse, sales slowed, buyers attempted to renege on their contracts, and prices were slashed by 12 to 15 percent. The fashion mogul, who lives on a large estate in Kent, Conn. and also has an apartment on Park Avenue, bought the two-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot loft for his son, Moises, who is also a designer, said listing brokerage East Egg Realty. It was originally listed for $2.7 million. [NYT]

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United American Land, the developer of the Soho Mews condominium, said it is close to paying off its $129 million construction loan to PB Capital, a few months before the loan matures, Crain’s reported. The payment is a major victory for the 68-unit project at 311 West Broadway, between Grand and Canal streets, which was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. Tough economic times forced the developer to slash prices by 12 to 15 percent at the seven-story building, which is now 70 percent sold. “It’s a successful project, given the adversity faced by the entire market,” said Albert Laboz, who runs United American Land with his two brothers. “Once we finish paying off the construction loan, we will start recouping our equity.” Peter Hannigan, a managing director at PB Capital, confirmed that the developer was about to pay off its loan. [Crain's]

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From left: Corcoran Sunshine’s Kelly Kennedy Mack, Lynne Brown, Melissa Ziweslin, Graham Spearman and the Rushmore

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group today announced the winners of its annual awards, with $1.6 billion in closed residential development sales in 2009. “In one of the toughest years in real estate history, $1.6 billion is a significant number,” Corcoran Sunshine President Kelly Kennedy Mack told The Real Deal. The award for sales team of the year was presented to Rushmore sales agents Lynne Brown, Jill Preschel, Graham Spearman, and Melissa Ziweslin, who closed over 100 unit sales at the project in 2009 and signed some $50 million in contracts during the fourth quarter alone. More inventory was sold and closed at Extell Development’s Rushmore condominium in 2009 than at any other development in the Corcoran Sunshine portfolio, Mack said, adding that the team demonstrated “a Herculean effort.” [more]

At peak, 51 percent of the buyers at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts.

From the December issue: At peak, buyers of 55 out of 108 units (51 percent) at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts, which were worth a combined $43.1 million. Six have since dropped their cases, and three have closed on their units (one received a 3.5 percent discount). The plaintiffs claimed Parkview, headed by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, failed to provide the property report required under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. After Parkview realized its mistake, the buyers claim it filed an amendment to the offering plan in an attempt to exempt itself from the law by removing eight units and combining another two, so the initial offering plan would only be comprised of 99 units. Developers across the city are fighting to keep buyers in contracts — but 20 condos and co-ops are facing a particularly tough time. Click here to read about the rest.

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Jenene Danenberg, Luxury Attache co-founder, and 100 11th Avenue, where closings began last week

In a residential market where most new developers are trying to cut costs, Jenene Danenberg is convinced she can still make them spring for an upgrade. And she has — most recently at 100 11th Avenue and 141 Fifth Avenue, both of which started move-ins last week. Cape Advisors brought in Luxury Attache during the development of its 72-unit Jean Nouvel project at 100 11th Avenue near 19th Street. David Comfort, a senior executive with Cape Advisors, said that the service was helpful in moving sales. “At the time we [began sales in February 2007], West Chelsea was not a [very] residential area, some of the niceties were not particularly known,” Comfort said. Luxury Attache helped educate buyers on attractions in West Chelsea, Comfort said, and even helped arrange travel plans for prospective residents. Luxury Attache, a four-year-old full-concierge service that developers and condo boards have on board to assist residents with everything from party planning to nabbing theater tickets, currently has a full-time station or at least dedicated services in place at 16 other Manhattan buildings. Those include Soho Mews, the Greenwich Club Residences, the Prudential Center, and Andre Balazs’ William Beaver House. Other clients include the National Hockey League, with whom they recently signed, and financial bigwigs like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. [more]

A series of attorney general’s office rulings favoring the developer of Soho Mews may signal a turning point for condo buyers looking to break their contracts at boom-era new developments across the city. At the West Broadway and Canal Street project, 31 of the 68 units were in contract before the real estate collapse. To date, only 15 apartments have closed, and developer Albert Laboz of United American Land has been hit with seven complaints by buyers looking to get their deposits back. In five cases, deposits were given to the developer after the buyers’ complaints — about an error in the description of the property and about misrepresentations of the closing date — were found to be insignificant. Another buyer settled and the seventh had raised a question about federal law, so that case was not decided. While lawyers for buyers in similar pending litigation at New York City condo developments said their own claims were based on more substantive errors, John D’Agostino, a lawyer for Soho Mews, said the decisions were a turning point. [NYT]

It seems like an unlikely scenario: A team of luxury interior stylists decorates your property for free, stuffing it with pricy furnishings, taking professional photos of it and then publishing them in a nationwide magazine. But for the developers of some unsold high-end condo units in New York City, the dream can be reality. Albert Laboz, a principal with United American Land, is one such developer. One of his unsold units at the Soho Mews at 311 West Broadway was photographed for Town & Country magazine, among others, which he let the publication use at no cost. Laboz said that the response from the photo shoot has been noteworthy.” The traffic uptick is tremendous,” Laboz said, noting that this tactic is part of a shifting promotional strategy among developers. “It’s no secret that the market is challenging.” Laboz’s unit is one of at least three homes that has swung its doors wide — and for free — for designers looking to showcase their work on the cheap.