Alec Baldwin backs out
Alec Baldwin — aka the “Saturday Night Live” alter-ego of President Donald Trump — recently backed out of a deal to buy a $16 million apartment at 212 Fifth Avenue, a source told The Real Deal.
Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, toured a four-bedroom pad at the 47-unit NoMad condo conversion but ultimately pulled out before signing on the dotted line, TRD’s source said. The couple, who welcomed their third child in September, currently lives in the penthouse at the Devonshire House on East 10th Street with their children.
A spokesperson for Baldwin was not immediately available for comment.
Baldwin wasn’t the only potential buyer who scoped out the Fifth Avenue building but didn’t ultimately buy. Sources said real estate bigwig Bob Toll, chairman of national homebuilder Toll Brothers, also came close to inking a deal for nearly $17 million on a pad that was listed for $20 million. But three weeks after the contract went out, Toll pulled the plug with little explanation.
The developers — a partnership between Madison Equities, Thor Equities and Building Land & Technology — declined to comment.
212 Fifth Avenue
One person with knowledge of the deal suggested that Toll may not have wanted to make a high-profile purchase at another developer’s building, especially as sales continue to be sluggish at his own. Toll Brothers — which slashed prices last year at 400 Park Avenue South and 1110 Park Avenue — recently reduced its equity stake in new projects through joint-venture partnerships and has been offering to pay transfer and mansion taxes for buyers in order to spur sales.
Toll didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Still, some big names have sealed the deal at 212 Fifth. Buyers include Charles Kushner, father of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Fort Worth oil billionaire Ed Bass.
A super-caffeinated pied-à-terre for Starbucks CEO?
Last month, TRD broke the news that Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, had ponied up just over $40 million for the priciest condo at Greenwich Lane, the Rudin family and Global Holdings’ condo conversion in Greenwich Village.
At $7,159 per square foot, the sprawling penthouse was among the priciest residential sales to date in Greenwich Village.
The deal closed just two months before the Seattle-based exec is expected to step down from his CEO role, a job company president Kevin Johnson will take over. Schultz will reportedly retain his title of executive chairman and focus on Starbucks’ high-end Reserve Roasteries business.
In the wake of his penthouse purchase, speculation swirled that Schultz might relocate to NYC full time, but the exec publicly denied those rumors. Still, his son Jordan, a sports columnist at the Huffington Post, and his daughter Addison both live in the city, so it could just be an (extremely expensive) pied- à-terre for when he’s in town visiting.
Schultz reportedly bought Jordan and his wife a $4.6 million apartment in Greenwich Village when they got married in 2011. The couple, who now have a daughter, still own the apartment, records show.
1 Morton Square
Exes Poehler and Arnett share their nest
Former celebrity couple Amy Poehler and Will Arnett finalized their divorce last summer, but they’re not giving up their 1 Morton Square apartment.
According to a source knowledgeable of their comings and goings, the couple is trying a parenting technique called “bird nesting,” where the parents move rather than the children. A publicist representing both Poehler and Arnett declined to comment.
The actors and comedians bought the pad for $5.28 million in 2007, upsizing from a smaller apartment on a lower floor with their two sons. They sold their old apartment to Jennifer Miller, a broker at the Corcoran Group, and her hedge-funder husband.
Poehler — who starred in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” and movies such as “Baby Mama” — wrote about her divorce in “Yes Please,” her 2014 memoir.
“Imagine spreading everything you care about on a blanket and then tossing the whole thing up in the air,” she wrote. “The process of divorce is about loading that blanket, throwing it up, watching it all spin, and worrying what stuff will break when it lands.”
Bobby Flay’s unit is back
Celeb chef Bobby Flay appears to be getting impatient about selling his apartment at the Chelsea Mercantile. He’s put the three-bedroom unit back on the market for $7 million after a five-month hiatus and has swapped brokers, trading the Corcoran Group for Tyler Whitman of venture-capital-backed firm TripleMint, a source told TRD.
And not surprisingly, given Flay’s profession, the listing plays up the kitchen amenities.
“The kitchen layout provides the social conveniences of an open kitchen while still keeping the work area out of view,” according to the listing. “The thoughtful design is perfect for anyone who loves to cook and entertain.”
Flay lived in the 3,200-square-foot pad at 252 Seventh Avenue with his ex-wife Stephanie March. Following their split, March remained in the apartment, sources said. Flay bought the apartment for just $1.5 million in 2005, records show.