By Stephen Jacob Smith 4/11 10:40am

Manhattan Transfers

The terrace might not be quite as big as what he had in the Village, but the courtyard is a nice consolation prize.

John Barrett Experiments With New Style At Parc Vendome Condo

During the last few years, super fancy salon-owner John Barrett has catered to the informal inclinations of his upscale clientele by opening both a braid bar and a ponytail bar, where time-crunched fashionistas can pay stylists $50 to pull their hair back with an elastic band.

But when it comes to real estate, the famed stylist has abandoned his laid-back Downtown ways. The salon owner has ditched the tired Village—teeming with tourists and college students—for the more classical Parc Vendome uptown at 333 West 56th Street. Read More

By Kim Velsey 11/15/12 11:17am

Stratospheric Sales

The grand salon.

David Geffen Snaps Up Denise Rich’s Fifth Avenue Penthouse for $54 M.

Apparently, Dreamworks co-founder David Geffen doesn’t take the  biblical commandment “thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s house” very seriously. He’s gone ahead and purchased the 20-room duplex penthouseat 785 Fifth Avenue from his upstairs neighbor Denise Rich for a record-setting $54 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The previous co-op record was set this spring, when Oaktree Capital Chief Howard Marks purchased the Courtney Sale Ross apartment at 740 Park for $52.5 million.

Ms. Rich listed the crazy spread for $65 million in January with Corcoran brokers Noble Black, Chazz Levi and Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, who claim that at 12,000-square-feet it is the largest apartment ever offered on Fifth Avenue (although measuring square footage in co-ops is a notoriously imprecise process).  And while Ms. Rich didn’t get full ask, she got more than anyone else ever has before. And we thought that maybe the trophy hunting season was over! How many pseudo trophy listings will Ms. Rich’s enviable sale spawn? Read More