Lawrence Rich has left his post as a vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman to become a senior vice president at Core, effective today, Core announced.

After 25 years running a clothing manufacturing business, Rich joined Elliman in 2004. He told The Real Deal that he enjoyed his seven years with the firm, and even foresaw himself remaining with it through retirement, but recently decided he “needed to take a next step.”

Following a lengthy decision process, Rich settled on Core after being impressed by CEO Shaun Osher and what Rich calls the youthful, modern culture he’s given the smaller firm.

“Elliman tries to have as many brokers as they can,” Rich said. “Core has a different culture, it’s more selective and I see myself fitting in well with their team.” – Adam Fusfeld [more]

From left: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump; images from the apartment at 21 Astor Place

Soon-to-be dad Jared Kushner has found a buyer for his East Village bachelor pad, according to Curbed. Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump, who are moving to a $16 million pad in the Trump Park Avenue at 502 Park Avenue near 60th Street, listed the 21 Astor Place duplex for $4.1 million. Kushner bought the two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom condo, which sits between Broadway and Lafayette Street, for $3.23 million in 2009. It was not immediately clear who the buyer is or what the closing price is. Torsten Krines of Sotheby’s International Realty marketed the listing. [Curbed] [more]

From left: Dean Spanos and Trump Park Avenue

Dean Spanos — president of the San Diego Chargers football team and son of Greek-born real estate developer Alexander Spanos — has sold his two-bedroom condominium unit at the Trump Park Avenue for $5.3 million, the Observer reported. The 1,813-square-foot unit, located on the 18th floor of the tower at 502 Park Avenue, sold for just under its $5.5 million asking price posted in April, close to $1 million more than Spanos paid for the unit in 2007. [more]

Trump Park Avenue at 502 Park Avenue, floor plans for penthouse #23 and advertising exec Donny Deustch

It looks like Donny Deutsch is finally moving into the fabulous 78th Street townhouse he’s been renovating for the past four years. Deutsch, an advertising mogul and media personality, has been renting penthouse #23 at Trump Park Avenue at 502 Park Avenue for the past several years, during the renovation of his townhouse, his brokers said. He’s moving out this week, however, and the 6,300-square-foot apartment is now listed for sale at $25 million, or for rent at $60,000 per month. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Victoria Shtainer and Lawrence Rich have the listing. Click here for more.

[more]

An image of the unit that Lawrence Rich, a vice president at
Prudential Douglas Elliman (left), helped his client purchase (unit to left)
and a nearly identical-looking unit (right) listed by Bank of America exec
Brian Brille (click image for larger version)

A buyer with a love of Trump Park Avenue has closed on a $14
million apartment in the condominium, according to the buyer’s broker
Lawrence Rich, a vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman. The
seller is likely Bank of America Asia-Pacific market President Brian
Brille. Before sealing the deal for corner condo unit 3A at 502 Park Avenue
yesterday, the buyer, listed as Faraya LLC, had made bids on other
high-profile apartments in the same building, including Yankee
Alex Rodriguez’s $10 million pad in February and Sheikh Abdul Aziz’s
$14 million residence in July, said Rich, who has been working with the
buyer from the get-go. When unit 3A, a 5,473-square-foot, four-bedroom,
six-and-a-half-bathroom apartment came on the market in early October,
Rich said he had this particular buyer in mind. [more]

An Asian financier calling himself “J. Lo” is reportedly looking to buy up luxe apartments in Manhattan’s premier buildings with haste. Lo, who is currently renting a $100,000-per-month condo at West 56th Street’s Park Imperial, counting neighbors like Daniel Craig, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Deepak Chopra, also recently signed a contract at the Park Laurel on West 63rd Street. He is reported to have paid nearly $28 million for the 7,758-square-foot spot that belonged to Israeli philanthropist Ephraim Gildor. Lo hasn’t made an offer yet on the $31 million penthouse he visited at Trump Park Avenue, but he did bid almost $40 million on Broadcast.com founder Todd Wagner’s apartment at the Time Warner Center, which, unfortunately for Lo, isn’t actually for sale. Wagner bought the 4,800-square-foot penthouse, once famously rented by Jay-Z, from real estate investor Michael Hirtenstein in 2007. Observers have noticed Lo’s black Cadillac Escalades idling outside his current rental, where he’s had shopping bags from Bergdorf Goodman delivered to his door. [Post, 1st item]

The price of a duplex penthouse at Trump Park Avenue, listed for $51 million until it went off the market last month, is now back on the market — for $20 million less. Broker Adam Modlin is now listing the apartment for $31 million, about $5,000 per square foot. The apartment was one of the 10 properties in the city listed for over $45 million in late 2008. Modlin told the Observer that he and Trump agreed the price cut is “appropriate for today’s market.”