By Stephen Jacob Smith 4/17 3:41pm

Manhattan Transfers

Mr. Modine was not pleased that some of his kids' artwork showed up on Twitter.

The Awkward Video Worked: Matthew Modine Sells Chelsea Duplex for $2.1 M.

Most celebrities scrupulously shield their real estate purchases through a web of limited liability corporations, and most brokers steadfastly refuse to discuss their bold-faced clients. Not Matthew Modine: when he wanted to sell his Chelsea pad at Loft 25, he made a video.

Mr. Modine didn’t get the full $2.29 million for the one-bedroom-with-office duplex at 420 West 25th Street, but his video was quite a hit, according to Halstead broker Mark Friedman, who had the listing. “It definitely got more hits than any other video we’ve done in the history of Halstead.” And Mr. Modine and wife  Caridad, did walk away with $2.1 million—a respectable premium over the $1.73 million they paid for the 1,668-square-foot spread in 2008. Read More

By Matt Chaban 6/22/11 5:14pm

Manhattan Transfers

Oh, Canada... (Getty)

Charge It! Amex Exec Buys Ottawa Senator’s UWS Seat

The Observer can’t help but wonder if Ashwini Gupta has a $12 million credit line with his company, American Express. That is how much he would need to put his new roost at the Park Millenium on the old gold card.

Mr. Gupta, the chief risk officer at AMEX, and his wife Anita Gupta just purchased a three-unit, 4,846-square-foot spread from Eugene Melnyk, owner of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, according to city records. The four-bedroom condo first came on the market in September for $16.9 million before being cut to $14.995 million, according to StreetEasy. The site shows it went into contract at the end of April. Read More

By The Editors 11/24/10 8:40pm

11 Questions

Meet the Neighbors! Richard Grossman Has Parking Karma

Welcome to the next installment of our ongoing interview series, Meet the Neighbors! Today, The Observer checks in with Richard Grossman, Halstead’s Executive Director of Sales, Downtown. That means he runs all the deals brokered out of Halstead’s Village office, which happens to be not far from his long-time home. Under Mr. Grossman’s direction, the Read More