Celebrity Real Estate year end wrap up

December 28, 2011 - As the year comes to an end, many reflect back on both the good and bad celebrity news stories. Curbed.com recently released its list of the best celebrity real estate news in New York during 2011.

Curbed listed celebrity chef Emeril's six-story townhouse as one of the best listed homes during the year. The home hit the market for a cool $15 million and photos of the home showcase his love of chandeliers. Soul singer John Legend also made the cut for listing his newly-renovated Scarano-on-the-Bowery home for $2.95 million.

The source reports that actress Julianne Moore's West Village townhouse has been on the market since 2009, but earned a spot on Curbed's favorite list for upping the price from $11.995 million to $12.5 million in true Hollywood fashion.

Read the full story here: http://www.relocation.com/news/Real_Estate_News/Best_celebrity_real_estate_news_during_2011_800672714.html

Calculating the correct tipping scale for your doorman and building staff may not be as simple as tipping your waiter or hairdresser...

NYC doorman

Happy Holidays!

In recent years, New Yorkers fortunate enough to indulge worries over domestic compensation have been besieged with more and more advice and debate every December — from newspapers, magazines, parenting blogs, real estate blogs, on how much to tip the people who take care of our children, open our doors, adjust our radiators, park our Priuses. And yet there is little to suggest that this mountain of charts and bullet points has eased the tension. What economists cite as the vexing information asymmetries central to these transactions appear to have been rectified hardly at all.

Read the Full story here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/nyregion/did-you-give-the-doorman-enough.html?ref=realestate

Weill finds buyer for $88M 15 CPW penthouse

Former Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill has found a buyer for his 15 Central Park West penthouse that had an asking price of $88 million, the New York Post reported.

The prospective buyer has not yet signed a contract and his or her identity could not be revealed, but sources told the Post the buyer hails from outside the United States.

Weill bought the 6,744-square-foot penthouse with a 2,077-square-foot terrace in 2007 for $43.7 million. He listed it last month with Kyle Blackmon, a vice president at Brown Harris Stevens, and vowed to donate the proceeds to charity.

Weill, who Time named one of the people most responsible for the crash, previously said he wanted to sell the property because the current economic climate made it uncomfortable for him to live in such an extravagant home. If the apartment gets anywhere near the asking price, it would set a record for price paid per square foot for a Manhattan apartment. [Post, 2nd item]

You can do Big things with a Small space - tour Home-decor entrepreneur Bradford Shellhammer's eclectic 1 bdrm

Informed by his training as a furniture sales rep and his graduate fashion-design degree from Parsons, 35-year-old Bradford Shellhammer has developed a graphic, modern aesthetic that emphasizes vibrant hues and texture. “I love color,” he says. “I think when you have every shade, it works. You don’t have to think about themes.” His Technicolor approach is evident in every aspect of his 900-square-foot apartment, which he’s rented with his boyfriend, Georgi Balinov, for the past year and a half. Though he spends much of his time at work—Shellhammer cofounded design-driven flash-sale site Fab.com this June—he still managed to infuse his home with his energetic disposition. One piece that epitomizes his color-centric philosophy is the living room’s felted wool rug, a piece created by Barcelona designer Nani Marquina (nanimarquina.com). “When you have a lot of color and texture, it hides dirt,” he reveals. “Also, I like to entertain, but we don’t have a lot of square footage, so I wanted to choose a rug that would invite people to sit down on it.”

See the full story and photo slide show here: http://newyork.timeout.com/shopping-style/apartments-home-design/2266039/apartment-tour-1br-in-hell%E2%80%99s-kitchen