"Sorry, but the figurine stays," we imagine Mr. Cohen told the photographer at Corcoran.

Over the past year, hedge fund honcho Steve Cohen has shelled out $150 million for a Picasso, $60 million for an East Hampton estate and $616 million to get the Securities and Exchange Commission off his back. Now, it looks like he wants to get a little bit back—$115 million, to be exact.

Via our friends at Real Estalker comes word that Mr. Cohen's 9,000-square foot spread at One Beacon Court, the residential portion of the Bloomberg Tower at 151 East 58th Street, has officially hit the market. Mr. Cohen and his brokers—Deborah Grubman and David Dubin at Corcoran—are hoping to knock reigning real champion 15 Central Park West out of the park and set a New York City record.

But with no outdoor space, three blocks between the building and the park and nowhere near the name recognition of 15 Central Park West, can Mr. Cohen's 51st-story duplex do it? (Even if it can't, he only paid $24 million for the apartment back in 2005, so he'll come out ahead either way.)

"The $88 million unit"—Dmitry Rybolovlev's record-setting digs at 15 Central Park West—"overlooked Central Park, and had 135 feet of direct outdoor terrace," Brown Harris Stevens mega-broker Paula Del Nunzio told The Observer. One Beacon Court, on the other hand, "is very convenient to Bloomingdale's and the subway" (how good of Ms. Del Nunzio to think of the help!).

Then again, "there are exceptionally good views" from One Beacon Court, said Ms. Del Nunzio, "and the finishes"—interiors by Charles Gwathmey, natch—"are very good" (which we're sure the contractors will appreciate as they rip them out and leave them for dead at the curb).

In any case, Mr. Cohen isn't hurting for competition—the city is positively booming with would-be record-setters. Martin Zweig wants $125 million for his triplex at the Pierre (a co-op, so at least Mr. Cohen will have the shady Eastern European oligarch market all to himself), Steven Klar wants $100 million for his CitySpire penthouse (which, at 8,000 square feet, is looking a bit shabby in comparison) and Leroy Schecter wants $85 million for his 15 Central Park West spread (down from $95 million).

"Whether it's worth that amount," Ms. Del Nunzio said, "remains to be seen." But "everyone says it can't be done—until it is."

Spill all the wine/spaghetti sauce/blood/ketchup you want!

Harold Prince may be best known for directing and producing Broadway musicals, but his real métier, it turns out, is real estate. According to city records, the 21-time Tony winner has bought or sold no less than seven different properties in Manhattan north of 59th Street over the past decade. (For the most part, not a West Side Story—only three units were on the West Side, and two of those were in 222 Central Park South.)

And his latest attempt is far from modest: just yesterday he and wife Judy relisted their townhouse at 48 East 74th Street for $21 million. If they can get anywhere near the ask, it'll be a windfall for the couple, as they bought the home in 2009 for $12.5 million. (Although it was the previous owner, who bought the house in 2002 for just $3.6 million, who made off the best.)

This isn't the first time Mr. and Mrs. Prince (herself of a theater pedigree—her father, Saul Chaplin, was a composer and musical director) have tried to sell the forty-foot Upper East Side townhouse. Back in November they listed the property with Fox Residential Group for $22 million, but they're clearly hoping that Paula Del Nunzio at Brown Harris Stevens and a small price cut will do the trick. (This would not be the first time a perfectly lovely residence has suffered from the Princes' theatrical decorating decisions.)

The townhouse's neo-Georgian façade may not be as elaborate as its neighbors, but it has enough interior features to make up for it. With a four-story atrium and elevator to, the house includes a roomy 7,375 square feet—and that's just above ground. The basement, which includes a gym and staff suite, holds another 2,000 square feet. (Future buyers: if you're looking for staff, you know where to find us!)

Whether or not they get their $21 million ask, the couple will likely not go hungry—less than two years ago they sold their duplex co-op at 834 Fifth Avenue for nearly $25 million.

Most recently listed at $22.5 million, the house is even more magnificent than the famously mouthwatering spreads featured in Mr. Allen's movies. It has five bedrooms, huge bay windows in the parlor and library (both with wood burning fireplaces, of course) and a gallery of Bulgarian marble. Thoroughly redesigned by its former owner, 19th century master builder Michael Reid, the house sits on a block of homes crafted by architectural luminaries: Walker and Gillette, Trowbridge and Livingston, Paul Mellon,  Grosvenor Atterbury and William Lescaze. It should come as no surprise that the stretch was once inhabited by Morgans, Astors and Rothschilds.

The townhouse been listed for less than a month with Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio, suggesting that the contract is for close to the full, although not first, asking price. Owners Copper House LLC first listed the spread for $26 million with Sotheby's in 2010—not the best time to try to sell a townhouse trophy. But the fresh listing and the much friendlier market of September 2012 were apparently just the thing.

Copper House purchased the copper house (it's so confusing when LLC's are named after the properties they were created to buy!) for $6.8 million in 2003, according to city records, then undertook a complete renovation, adding a new roof, electrical, plumbing and an irrigation system in the 26-foot deep rear garden. They also added a cedar closet in the basement that would be perfect for storing one's furs, if anyone still dares to walk down the street wearing fur.

Not so very far away a duplex at 998 Fifth Avenue—one of the earliest apartment buildings to draw the blue-blooded crowd away from their townhouses and another one of Ms. Del Nunzio's listings— has also gone into contract.

The spread spanning the sixth and fifth floors, which city records show was purchased by Constance Milstein for $15.7 million back in 2006, was most recently listed for $20 million. It also hit the market in fall of 2010, asking $23 million, but the Corcoran listing disappeared this February.

Indeed, the 12-room duplex certainly has the look and feel of a townhouse and some unusual touches for an apartment: leaded glass windows with original color medallions and a curved two-story stained glass window that once graced a church. It has four bedrooms, 5.5-baths and, of course, a library with a fireplace (one of three with antique mantels).

What does this all mean? Well, the trophy market, despite the change of season, looks like it will keep crackling away like a blaze in a wood burning fireplace this fall. Although it's worth noting that despite all the attention the $95 million listings are getting from the media, buyers seem more keen to pick up properties in the $20 million range.

kvelsey@observer.com

Now, Ms. Shipman's house at 21 Beekman Place is looking for a buyer, with the seller betting that someone will be similarly awed by the townhouse's charms to spend $48.5 million. It's a price that might have shocked Ms. Shipman, but one that won't cause today's trophy hunters to bat an eye. As for Ms. Shipman, she knew a trend when she saw one. In fact, she had a habit of setting them off, causing something of a craze for East River abodes when she declared Beekman Place the place to be.

"This woman was so ahead of her time," said Paula Del Nunzio, the Brown Harris Stevens broker who has the listing, noting Ms. Shipman's keen eye for the country-like charms of Beekman as well as her groundbreaking work in landscape architecture.

So what of Ms. Shipman's glorious gardens? Alas, the plantings, like much of the landscape architect's interior handiwork were obliterated by the occupants who lived in the mansion after she sold it in the 1940s, among them the Florida businessman William Rupp, who installed a four-foot-high monogram on the front gate and built a wall specifically to block his neighbor's view of the river (both were quickly dispatched by the current owner). When financier Peter Novello bought the house for $10.6 million in 2008, The New York Times reported that the only interior features that remained were a pair of blind arches sunk into the walls of Ms. Shipman's former breakfast room.

After Mr. Novello's renovation, however, the five-story house looks much like it might have in Ms. Shipman's day, antique oak flooring in a chevron pattern, a curved stair and a library with a fireplace and pine paneling, as well as one of Ms. Shipman's most celebrated design innovations—a conservatory surrounded by light on three sides.

Ms. Del Nunzio said the house's position on the quiet street (one of the quaint details Ms. Shipman loved) provides for "extraordinary light," with exposures on the East, West and South and views of the East River from almost every room.

The master bedroom has bay windows, custom closets, and a marble bath. Just down the hall are the conservatory and one of the home's two terraces (there's also a rooftop garden).

And, fortunately, the home has been outfitted with all the modern conveniences, among them a six-burner LeCornu range from France, twin Sub-zero refrigerators and a Nest thermostat system that allows the owners to control the home's temperature and lighting remotely and learns, over time, their preferences. One hardly needs a household staff these days!

kvelsey@observer.com

Oaktree Capital's Howard Marks bought his Ritz Carlton pad for $18.8 million in 2007. Now he's asking $50 million. The excuse? A stunning renovation.

The paint had scarcely dried at 15 Central Park West before the building’s first residents set to knocking down the walls and stripping out the ultra-luxury condo's ultra-luxurious finishes. Not that the finishes were lacking—like the layouts, they were widely considered to be exquisite—a stunning marriage of old-fashioned grandeur and modern sensibilities. In fact, ex-Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill thought that architect Robert A.M. Stern had done such a fine job designing the building that he hired him to do a massive renovation on his brand new, $43.7 million penthouse.

In the upper echelons of Manhattan real estate, the pursuit of perfection is as common as Sub-Zero refrigerators and private elevator landings. Haunted by dreams of what could be, owners are forever tearing magnificent properties apart in the hopes of transforming them into even more magnificent properties.

Such dreams often pay off handsomely. To wit, Mr. Weill’s freshly-renovated penthouse was so striking that it fetched $88 million shortly after completion. But of course, it would surprise no one, particularly not Nicholas S.G. Stern, son of A.M. and the owner of boutique construction concern Stern Projects LLC., if the Russian tycoon who bought the celebrated spread started his own renovation any day now.

"If you have an extraordinary property, with unique features—location, terraces—and you put in a great deal of money to enlist a top-end architect, that's when an apartment turns into a trophy," said Mr. Stern, who is an experienced polisher of such trophies. With the collaboration of architects, interior decorators and a small army of craftsmen, Mr. Stern has turned both gutted apartments into pristine spaces and already pristine spaces into different, possibly more pristine spaces. His handiwork includes not only the penthouse at the Ritz Carlton (listed for $95 million), but also a downstairs spread listed for $50 million. At the moment, he is in the process of transforming two thirty-fifth floor apartments at 15 CPW into a single, sprawling gem with a $95 million price tag. "By giving it the royal treatment, you are, in fact, legitimizing it as a property in this uber-arena,” Mr. Stern explained.

Remodeling has always been popular among those with means, of course, but while it once took the form of fresh chintz patterns, these days it often hews closer to gut renovations.

“I’ve been in lots of places where they’ve spent gazillions to renovate and the next buyer comes in and totally redoes it,” said appraisal guru Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel. “On one hand, what makes these properties trophies is the fact that they’re done. But then they’re gut renovated or totally redone to suit the new owners’ taste. It’s a strange dynamic, but right now that’s the very top of the market. Clearly people are willing to pay a premium for a home that’s finished.”

Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio said that one of her renovated listings in 15 CPW sold for several million more than a nearby apartment in the same line.

“A renovation can add a great deal of value if it’s done in a classic manner that would appeal to an international standard of taste,” she said, adding a word of warning: “no idiosyncratic features designed to the taste of just one owner.”

Besides the thrill of winning a prized pad, there is a practical component to buying a newly-renovated home—even if it isn’t the next buyer’s idea of exquisite, it is likely closer than the unrenovated alternative. And certainly, there is a comfort in knowing that one could move in, if compelled by necessity, with only an interior decorator in tow. Renovations do require a significant investment of time and money, particularly with summer work hours, the limited window that many co-ops restrict construction to, forcing homeowners to wait out the other three seasons idly.

“A renovated apartment holds a great deal of attraction—we live in a city where it takes six weeks to upholster a pillow,” said Brown Harris Stevens broker John Burger. “A renovation really takes at the bare minimum six months and a good renovation can take 18 months.”

Mr. Burger also confided that buyers might want to avoid undertaking a massive renovation as they are widely known to “take a bit of a toll on relationships”—a phenomenon that Mr. Miller also remarked on. “Eighty to ninety percent of the divorce-related appraisals I’ve done are in the middle of a renovation,” he told us. “And if it’s not the Manhattan apartment, it’s the house in the Hamptons.”

We shuddered, along with Mr. Miller, at the thought of trying to sell a partially-renovated home in the midst of a divorce. And we couldn’t help but wonder—why would anyone spend months and wads of money, not to mention risk their marriage, to re-do an apartment that had literally just been redone?

“It’s the dream,” he responded. And sometimes it’s the nightmare. Renovations done by the former owners can be, well, infelicitous to put it mildly.

Mr. Stern, for one, admits to having seen some questionable aesthetic choices. What you might call distinct, but not distinctive.  Not that taste has anything to do with his job, he added—his role is to make sure that the client’s vision is assembled beautifully. No matter how hideous that vision might be.

“Certainly I’ve seen things that that I would not encourage my friends to live in,” he said. “This is the world we live in; there’s no limit to bad taste. And this is New York—there is always someone who will hold your hand while you throw money out a window.”

kvelsey@observer.com

Italian business bigwig Piofrancesco Borghetti, who serves as chairman of the board at Marbert Holding AG and a handful of other powerful companies, bought the spread for just $9.8 million in 2008, according to city records.

It seems he may be selling for more than just the chance to take advantage of a good market: The Real Deal has noted that he has been charged with crimes in Italy, including embezzling 19 million euros and making fraudulent bankruptcy claims. We guess he could use the money from the sale and, encouraged by his upstairs neighbors' ability to more than double their money with the sale of a 37th-floor 3-bedroom condo, Mr. Borghetti apparently saw no reason not to go for triple. He's angling for a little more than $10,000 a square foot (the apartment is a relatively diminutive 2,761-square feet), but he just might get it. One57 may be rising fast, but for the moment 15 CPW remains the brightest star in the sky.

"It's the only apartment available in the tower right now," said Brown Harris Stevens listing broker Paula Del Nunzio. "It has totally unencumbered East and West views, with three rooms over the park."

The living room faces East, overlooking the park, as does the 20-foot library and one of the bedrooms, which goes to the early riser in the family.

The master bedroom (tailored walk-in closets and dressing area, Calacatta marble-clad master bath) is perfect for the late sleeper, as it looks West over the Hudson River.

Ms. Del Nunzio noted that apartments in the C-line are "really gorgeous" and often fetch a premium, even by 15 CPW standards. And while she didn't want to be negative, she added that "some of the other corner apartments face into the interior, or other buildings."

With this listing coming on the heels of the $50 million listing at the Ritz-Carlton, we couldn't help but wonder if the luxury market would ever slow from the frenzied pace it's maintained since spring.

"It's impossible to predict the future," Ms. Del Nunzio said. "But if the past is any prologue, it seems that there is a certain niche of buyer that feels New York is a particularly good place to make a purchase."

kvelsey@observer.com

The Observer has learned, through sources familiar with the deal, that the sprawling Gilded Age townhouse at 973 Fifth Avenue has closed for $42 million, setting the year's townhouse record. (The all-time record still belongs to the $53 million Harkness Mansion, though Larry Gagosian bought it for a mere $36.5 million last year. The largest townhouse sale since was the $48 million deal for the Vanderbilt Mansion last May.)

It has been a spring of stratospheric sales, with the record-setting sale of a $52.5 million co-op at 740 Park and Steve Wynn's $70 million condo buy at the Ritz-Carlton and now it looks like the summer will follow suit, in defiance of all seasonal norms.

>>>An $88 Million Key: The Biggest Real Estate Deals of 2011>>>

The 15,225-square-foot house had been listed for $49 million with Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio since last June. It was the townhouse's first time on the market since 1977, when it sold for  $660,000 to Victor Shafferman, a businessman who died in 2009.

Ms. Del Nunzio would not talk about the deal, other than to say that the mansion was "one of the most extraordinary houses to ever sell in Manhattan."

The house was designed by the architect of the Gilded Age at the end of a long career spent perfecting the art of opulence (White was shot and killed by the husband of a former lover just a year after it was completed). It retains all of the original Stanford White details and floorplan (including a full service floor with a kitchen) unlike Mayor Bloomberg's Stanford White mansion and others that have been remodeled since. Leaden glass windows, mirrors rimmed in gold leaf, a wall of windows along the magnificent staircase, you get the idea.

Alas, it seems that the house may be a little too old-fashioned for modern tastes. It is said to need an extensive renovation—people are so attached to modern conveniences these days.

Still, there are certain undeniable advantages to living at such an established address. The home's original owner Henry Cook, a banker and a railroad tycoon, also owned all the land between Fifth and Madison avenues, 78th and 79th streets, when the house was built. He limited the height of all buildings on the surrounding blocks with deed restrictions that persist to this day, so the owner will never have to worry about pesky apartment buildings blocking the light.

kvelsey@observer.com

Related:
Mystery Buyer Pays More Than $90 Million for Penthouse at One57

Lordy, Lordy, 740: Oaktree Capital Chief Howard Marks Buys Ross’ 740 Park Co-op for $52.5 M., Setting Record

Na Zdarovia Dmitry Rybolovlev! Fertilizer Kingpin Buys Sandy Weill’s $88 M. Penthouse

Just What Does an $88 M. Sale Look Like?

Take, for example, the latest triumph. Westside RE Properties LLC has purchased 37C, a three-bedroom tower apartment listed with Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio for $23.35 million, not far below the $23.95 million ask.

Some may have thought that asking $23.95 million for the condo, which was purchased for just $10.6 million in 2008 by Meridian Capital Management founder and CEO William Lawrence and wife Gloria, was as lofty as the building's celebrated views. But that's just about average appreciation for units at 15 CPW. This is, after all, the home of the $88 million penthouse, which, when you think about it on a dollar-for-dollar basis, was not even as big a flip as Mr. Lawrence pulled off. (Sandy Weill only doubled his money, from the $43 mill he originally paid.)

"The resales established that that building is a micromarket all in itself; it commands a higher price per square foot than any other building," said Ms. Del Nunzio, who declined to comment on the pending sale other than to say that the apartment was "extraordinary" and "perfectly aligned on the east/west axis" (i.e., amazing views).

So what will the buyer get for $23.9 million besides the "magical vistas of Central Park to the East and sweeping Hudson River views to the West?" There is, of course, a gracious entryway, a grand living room, a 20-foot library, a formal dining room and an enormous eat-in kitchen with gourmet appliances. But there are also some interesting and unusual features, like a spacious guest suite with a unique pocket door system that creates a "triple parlor" along the park. The master bedroom suite has walk-in closets, dressing areas and a bathroom covered in calacatta marble.

And the Westside RE Properties, whoever he or she may be, will almost certainly shock us all with the ask (and the get) when it comes time to sell again.

kvelsey@observer.com

The latest property to disappear from the market is the now under-contract townhouse at 26 East 73rd Street, listed with Brown Harris Stevens broker Paula Del Nunzio at $23 million.

The luxurious limestone building, on the cusp of being sold to an unknown buyer, was bought anonymously for $18  million in 2007 by owners who records suggest are based in the Netherlands.

They clearly had whimsical and artistic preferences when it came to decorating. Listing photos show a swarm of butterflies crossing the living room, lavender walls, a bright orange breakfast nook and and a plethora of interesting paintings.

But fresh, alluring design aside, it seems that buyers can't keep their hands off really expensive properties these days and 26 East 73rd Street fits the bill. The six-story, five-bedroom townhouse has an elevator, central heat that is adjustable room-by-room, a high-end security system, a private exterior vestibule hidden behind a heavy brass front door and more high-tech creature comforts than we've ever seen included in the same listing before.

There's also a roof terrace (with built-in irrigation system), both gas and wood-burning fireplaces (a total of 5), closets galore, a living room with state-of-the-art home theater equipment and a master bedroom with a regular closet and a shoe closet, as well as a bathroom with heated limestone floors.

The beauty also apparently caught the eye of Jerry Seinfeld last June, but either the comedian and dyed-in-the-wool Upper West Sider decided to stay in known territory or he takes a very long time to make up his mind.

kvelsey@observer.com

Mr. Bronfman has resettled in London, which is said to be why he is selling the home. Having offloaded his old townhouse around the corner to Len Blavatnik for $50 million in 2007--more than 10 times what he paid for it in 1994--perhaps the Seagrams heir and Warner Music boss can come to terms with a 20 percent loss on the Muppet manse, which just sold for $23 million, according to city records.

The buyer has a sense of humor, hiding behind a limited-liability corporation by the name of Statler. That happens to be the name of the tall, skinny muppet who heckles the stars from a theater box along with his pal Waldorf on the old Muppet Show. And yet the joke is on the buyer, as the deed lists an address for the LLC at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, headquarters of News Corp., and the deed has been signed by one of the building's denizens, Jesse Angelo, editor of The Daily.

This seems like an awfully expensive home for the 37-year-old Murdoch man, whose most recent purchase was a $1.9 million condo at the Meatpacking District's Porter House, bought in January 2005. Then again, as a recent profile revealed, Mr. Angelo is the son of a hedge fund manager. Plus, there is the $30 million Rupert gave his squire to start his iPad-only publication...

The 12,000-square-foot home is in need of a top-to-bottom, every-inch renovation, as Corcoran brokers Carrie Chiang and Loy Carlos write in their listing: "There are few opportunities to create a 40-ft wide majestic residence reminiscent of the golden era when the most prominent New Yorkers like the Fricks, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Roosevelts built palatial homes in what was then an up and coming neighborhood... the Upper East Side. In 1928, Beekman Winthrop commissioned architect Julius Gaylor who created this masterful residence. [...] The house awaits a special purchaser who desires to undertake a restoration befitting its history, marrying it with the best of 21st century technology."

Does Mr. Angelo really have that kind of money, or could the home be for one of his News Corp. cubicle mates? He did not return repeated requests for comment, and the brokers, who had a co-exclusive with Brown Harris Stevens' Paula Del Nunzio and Alina Pedroso, declined to comment. "We don't even know who the buyer is," Ms. Chiang said.

Read past Manhattan Transfers here. >>

mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo