Not much of a downgrade.

When The Epoch Times reviewed celebrity chef Michael Symon's new Greek restaurant in the Flatiron District, Parea, in 2006, it wrote that it "might improve after Mr. Symon gets more experience in the New York restaurant world." Parea shut down the next year and Mr. Symon has refocused his efforts on the Midwest and his hometown of Columbus, Ohio (he once described his cuisine as "meat-centric"), but he's still taking The Epoch Times' advice to heart: he's staying in New York.

Mr. Symon and his wife Elizabeth just picked up a full-floor unit at 316 East 22nd Street, a boutique loft building built by David Howell Design. The six-unit building went up around the time the market crashed, and the Symons' sixth-floor unit (which is not actually the penthouse) is the first to be resold. The sellers, Neil Barve and Davray Aditi, picked up the pad in 2010 for around $2.24 million, and resold it to the Symons for $2.75 million—a tidy profit for not even three years of ownership.

The Symons could be moving from their penthouse at 210 Lafayette Street, a building styled as One Kenmare Square (nevermind that there is no "Kenmare Square" in Manhattan), designed by Richard Gluckman and developed by hotelier André Balazs. They picked up their SoHo digs for just over $3 million last year, and are asking $3.5 million for it. So far, they've gotten two offers above that price. Not bad for a condo they've only owned for a year!

Though their latest buy is cheaper than their SoHo penthouse and isn't quite in prime Gramercy territory, it isn't much of a downgrade. The 40-foot-wide condo features 1,777 square feet of space, and also boasts a private parking garage. And while the building doesn't have the same pedigree as their SoHo pad, it must be well-designed, because architect David Howell told The Observer that he in fact lives in the building. So if there are any leaks, the Symons will know who to call!

Susan Bloomberg (Photo from Patrick McMullan)

We know that Mayor Bloomberg lives in the lap of Old World luxury in his string of East Side townhouse, but his ex, Susan Bloomberg, has a roost rivaling the mayor's Baroque maison, as well? Or at least she did.

Unlike her former husband's palatial uptown abode, Ms. Bloomberg favors downtown digs, at One Kenmare Square, to be exact, that black, wavy lodestar built by Andre Balazs. Ms. Bloomberg has just sold her candy-colored bachelorette pad for $11.6 million, according to city records

Ms. Bloomberg penthouse was actually comprised of two units, which sold separately to the same buyer buyer, who purchased anonymously through "Cirrus 210 LLC." Perhaps he or she is a meteorological aficionado, as "cirrus" is in fact a type of thin, ethereal cloud. Or perhaps the buyer is merely mocking us, making note of the life they'll soon lead up in the clouds of Soho.

While not quite reaching the $13 million ask Ms. Bloomberg sought when she put the property on the market over the summer, she did best the asking price of $11.5 million from when the home first came on the market in August 2009. It is still a tidy profit, enough to make a Bloomberg-terminal-tied banker proud: City records show she purchased the two units for a combined total of $10.2 million in 2006.

According to a listing from Halstead broker Arlene Weindberg, the buyer has scored a "quiet paradise above the bustle of the city, with abundant light, fine finishes and sensational views at every turn!" Aside from owning the five-bedroom, four-bath home frequented by the daughters of New York's fearless leader, they have a full 4,472 square feet of interior space to relax in the winter months, and another 4,031 square feet of outdoor space spread over two terraces to sun themselves when weather permits.

eknutsen@observer.com