By Stephen Jacob Smith 10:05am

Manhattan Transfers

Virtual staging is usually a bad sign.

Real Estate Dilettante Libet Johnson Lists Trump International Condo

Libet Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, appears to be in the mood for tying up loose ends. Two months ago she reconciled with her ex-boyfriend, celebrity weight loss-through-pregnancy-hormones guru Lionel Bissoon, reaching a joint custody agreement over a 9-year-old child that they “found” in Cambodia and brought back to the U.S. on a humanitarian visa.

Now comes the shedding of the real estate: Ms. Johnson has just listed her 30th-floor condo at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. She’s asking $4 million for the two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom spread, or exactly double what she paid for it back in 2004. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 4/15 6:08pm

Manhattan Transfers

Will Sheila Nevins' eighth apartment at the Chelsea Mercantile be her last? Stay tuned! (Photo courtesy Patrick McMullan.)

Eighth Time’s a Charm: HBO Honcho Signs on for Another Season at the Chelsea Mercantile

When Sheila Nevins first started at HBO as “Director of Documentaries,” the cable network had only done one, and she only signed a 13-week contract. Over three decades later, and save for a three-year diversion in the ’80s, Ms. Nevins is still at HBO, and is still heading up the channel’s documentary division. We can only hope the contract she just signed at the Chelsea Mercantile has as much staying power.

And this is nowhere near Ms. Nevins’ first purchase in the condo building. In fact, it’s at least her eighth. Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/16/12 2:30pm

Manhattan Transfers

The heiress in 1989. (New York Magazine)

The Real Estate Whims of Libet Johnson: Heiress Looking to Sell the Vanderbilt Mansion, Lusting After Huguette Clark Spread

The problem with getting what you want is that sometimes, once you have it, you don’t want it anymore. The Observer has learned that Libet Johnson is looking to offload the Vanderbilt Mansion, the stately neo-Georgian mansion at 16 East 69th Street that she spent $48 million to buy scarcely more than a year ago.

Sources tell us that Ms. Johnson has been quietly shopping the townhouse around, hoping to sell for a price in the mid-$50 million range. Which does not come as a huge surprise—the heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and the sister of NY Jets Owner and Romney bundler Woody Johnson has a reputation for falling in, and out, of love with extravagant real estate. She bought the townhouse, sans broker, from her friend and fellow heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and Ms. Barnett’s husband, the founder of beauty.com. What’s a $48 million townhouse between friends? Read More