Enter Steve Roth, chairman of megadeveloper Vornado, who knows a real estate deal when he sees one and is renowned for waiting out the market until the time is right to sell.

Back at the turn of the millennium, Mr. Roth bought up a 3,322-square-foot duplex penthouse at 345 West 13th Street from developer Hudson Companies. Mr. Roth, who paid $1.72 million for the light-filled duplex, has just sold it for $6.8 million, according to city records.

The apartment, which was listed with Corcoran brokers Deborah Grubman and David Dubin, was asking $7.25 million. (It first went on the market at $7.95 million in May).

The condo is currently configured as a very generous two-bedroom, according to the listing, with 12-foot-high ceilings, original wood beams and columns, an exposed brick wall and a study area with a wood burning fireplace. It also comes with downstairs neighbor Will Ferrell.

The place seems nicer even than many of Mr. Roth's well-known developments, which include such blockbusters as the Bloomberg Building (home to the luxe One Beacon Court condos), 280 Park Avenue and the skyline busting 15 Penn  Plaza.

The buyer is Zoltan Wesley LLC, which was incorporated in December of this year. When reached on the phone, Mr. Dubin said he could not comment on either the buyer or the seller.

Still, it is a good outing for the brokers. They may have fallen short of Mr. Roth's high-minded initial ask by about 14 percent, they bested a $6.5 million Mr. Roth wanted back in 2009, when he put the place on the market with Douglas Elliman. It kicked around from March until August, when it slipped off the market at $5.5 million. This was, of course, the depth of the doldrums.

But Mr. Roth is no stranger to sitting on a site, be it the old Alexander's department store that was eventually replaced by the Bloomberg Building or the Filene's Basement site in Boston, which has sat vacant for years to the consternation of everyone in Beantown, the mayor included.

While the apartment, beautiful though it may be, hardly seems like a fitting home for a billionaire, it's not his only address. He listed he and his wife's Easthampton address on the deed. As might be expected of a man who heads a famously tight-lipped company, Mr. Roth has not yet returned a request for comment.

Maybe he's just a man of comparatively modest tastes? As the listing puts it: "The calmness one finds in this home is a juxtaposition to the exciting neighborhood just steps away - stroll along the Hudson or perhaps walk the High Line, what more could one want?"

How about a massive portfolio of Manhattan real estate chock full of trophy towers and blockbuster development projects?

kvelsey@observer.com

Vacancies abound. (Vornado)

All that agita for nothing.

After fighting the bullish Steve Rothto save the Empire State Building's spot on the skyline, Tony Malkin has won a reprieve—thanks to the miserable economy.

According to the Post, Vornado is putting off construction of the 1,200-foot tower atop the Hotel Pennsylvania "until market rents reach a point where it’s worthwhile to redevelop the site with an office building."

Instead, the developer is going the unusual root of possibly investing in a building it may well tear down.

“It could cost $30 million just to renovate the rooms,” said one executive who was not authorized to speak on the record. “It’s 1,000 rooms and everything adds up.”

Vornado would also commit millions of dollars more to update the lobby and common areas.

The move makes some sense, though. While the office market may not be clamoring for more room, demand for hotels is still soaring.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

510 Fifth in better days. (City Review)

While there's no official word yet on whether or not there has been any "K-I-S-S-I-N-G," it seems like some pouty lips are being puckered by both parties on the matter of Vornado's ongoing renovations of 510 Fifth Avenue, the former Manufacturer's Hanover Trust building.

As reported in The Times last week, a series of email correspondence has come to light that details a line of communication so open that it not only verges on "hand holding," it actually includes the phrase itself. the story has been picked up by Curbed and Architect's Newspaper, and it seems likely to get even more attention.

Former Landmarks Preservation Commission chairwoman Meredith Kane was retained by Vornado boss Steve Roth in advance of his acquisition of 510 Fifth last January. In her role as counsel to Vornado, Ms. Kane wrote an email to her successor, Bob Tierney, in which she implored the current chair to aid Mr. Roth's potential acquisition of the then-available 510 Fifth.

“What I think he’d most like is a little bit of hand-holding directly from you—he won’t believe it when it comes from me!" Ms. Kane wrote to Mr. Tierney, according to The Times. "That even though we have a lot of detail to work through, and you will need staff and the commissioners to be satisfied with the proposals, that we are going to ‘get through’ this project.”

Ms. Kane's unsubtle use of the phrase "hand-holding" is actually characteristic of the bold language used in a number of the emails, republished online by Curbed, but what makes the seemingly clear collusion most discomfiting to lovers of New York architecture is how controversial Vornado's plans for the building have become.

The Observer detailed the issues surrounding the renovation back in February, and the minutiae of the variously rejected plans have become even more entangled and hotly debated as the issue continues to go unresolved. And while 510 Fifth isn't the only building in the borough having troubles getting signed off on by Landmarks (as evidenced by the LPC's denial of plans to renovate the Puck Building), it now seems that it might be the only one that got behind-the-scenes pre-approval from the city agency.

So the question must now be asked if the LPC whispered sweet nothings into Mr. Roth's ear while he bid on 510 Fifth, does he have a right to be upset that the same commission is now not living up to its non-promises?

tmcenery@observer.com

A remorseful Roth. (Getty)

Jonathan Gray, Blackstone's wizard of real estate, has spent billions buying up distressed assets during the downturn, including his brand-new bid for some of Bank of America's buildings. Still, the deal that has defined his career so far has to be Blackstone's purchase of Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties. Not only was the 2007 acquisition of 563 office properties the largest leveraged buyout of all time, at $39 billion, but it also pit Mr. Gray against one of the shrewdest men in real estate, Vornado's Steve Roth. The bullish Mr. Roth is still stinging from the loss.

The Observer spoke with Mr. Roth for this week's cover story, and he still thinks about the whopper that got away. "I'm remorseful," he said. "Obviously, we wanted that deal, we chased that deal. It was an enormous deal, and we thought it was important for our company and we sincerely thought that. When we didn't get it, I was remorseful, and I'm still remorseful. I wish we got the deal."

Still, there are no hard feelings for a man Mr. Roth very much respects. "No, of course not," he told The Observer. "Business is business. Jon's great, and Jon is still great."

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

What a long, strange trip it's been. (Forbes)

Sunday came and went, and still there is no deal for Vornado's Port Authority Bus Terminal tower. It has been a dozen years since Vornado was tapped to build the thing, and while the developer was poised to get to work in 2007, those plans collapsed along with the economy. The deal was set to expire this weekend, but the Port Authority has granted Vornado yet another extension to come up with a plan to make both sides happy.

"We are continuing the ongoing negotiations with Vornado," Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman told The Observer in an email. Port Authority executive director and caster-of-long-shadows Chris Ward is expected to recommend a three month extension at the September 13 Port Authority board meeting. The extension would be back-dated to yesterday, so the new expiration date is November 7.

This would be the shortest extension yet, so whether that means it is take-it-or-leave it time, or a deal is about to be struck, was not immediately clear. Mr. Coleman would not discuss specifics of the negotiations and Vornado declined to comment.

While Mr. Ward may be able to fix the airports and the World Trade Center, here is one deal he still cannot seem to get done.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

Running late... just like the buses inside. (PANYNJ)

It has now taken Steve Roth a dozen years and almost as many extensions to keep his plans for a tower atop the Port Authority Bus Terminal alive. But with a deadline approaching Sunday to finalize a deal, The Journal reports that Vornado and the Port Authority are still far from a terminal tower agreement.

The 2007 deal called for the Vornado team to pay about $500 million over a long-term lease. In the latest round of negotiations, Vornado has been offering less money than the agency has been seeking, people familiar with the discussions said.

The Port Authority is hoping a final pact would provide the agency hundreds of millions of dollars that it would use to renovate and upgrade the bus terminal, the people said. "We continue to be in active discussions with them," said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority.

The Journal points out that while demand is rising for office space, vacancies are still high and there is plenty of competition from new towers coming online, stretching from the World Trade Center to further up 8th Avenue. Not to mention a rival in Mr. Roth's own 15 Penn Plaza.

Vornado could always get another extension, of course, just as a well-connected developer should.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

The Moynihan Mall! (SOM)

It is one of the most mythic and elusive redevelopment projects in the city, the plan to restore at least some of Penn Station's former glory with a new station inside the old Farley Post Office. But this train could be delayed for good.Moyn* Station broke ground on a no-frills first phase last fall, but it looks like that could be as far as the ambitious station gets if Related and Vornado can't figure out what to do with their half of the station, according to The Journal. With a year-end deadline looming, the two Steves are coming up short on retail options for Moynihan Station.

Seeking other options, in recent months the developers have tried to get the City University of New York interested in a land swap plan with the Tribeca-based Borough of Manhattan Community College, the people said.

The developers would have built it a new campus in the back of the post office, and in turn, the developers would have been able to build apartments with unobstructed Hudson River views on the school's valuable land of the five-block campus along the West Side Highway.

But those talks appear to have fizzled recently, as CUNY officials showed little interest, people familiar with the discussions said.

As if it were not news enough that the Moynihan Station development deal was in doubt, who knew such an audacious, if now ill-fated, landswap was in the works? Those Steves never met a crazy landswap or air rights flip they did not like. After all, it was the plan to move Madison Square Garden into the Farley that derailed the Moynihan project most recently. The Journal also reveals that the developers have been trying to attract Nordstroms or Target, so far to no avail.

What to do? BeLTT will never develop into a fully formed neighborhood until it gets a mall stuff inside a historic facade.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

As the crowds gathered, a doorman at a faded rental complex nearby watched from an elderly resident's spacious 20th-floor apartment. "People were paying $25 just to see that view for 15 minutes," the doorman at 220 Central Park South recalled. "And I'm just sitting there, just looking out. To think, it's the best view in the city and he's got it for free, every day!"

Those days are numbered. Last month, tenants in 26 rent-stabilized units at 220 CPS ended their five-year battle to hold on to their perfect view, selling out to developers for a total of $40 million, according to public records reviewed by The Observer.

By this spring, all of the tenants at 220 CPS will have left the building, vacating one of the last remaining slices of affordable real estate lining the park and all but completing Central Park's transformation from a desirable address to one that's out of reach for everyone but the über-rich.

SLIDESHOW: The Sentinels of Central Park. >>

Already, real estate brokers, architects and anxious (even envious) neighbors are turning their eyes to the sky, where a partnership of Steve Roth's Vornado Realty and Veronica Hackett's Clarett Group plans to erect an ultra-luxurious 41-story condo tower. It's expected to cost as much to build per square foot as the park's reigning luxury king, 15 Central Park West--and to emulate its grandeur.

In all likelihood, 220 CPS will be the last big development on the edge of Central Park for a generation, and a microcosm of the economic divide that is--literally--splitting the city.

A couple of weeks after Christmas, only a brilliant red poinsettia in the lobby of 220 Central Park South looked fresh. The toothpaste-green sofas were stained, the Berber carpet worn and the amber lacquer on the plywood paneling was starting to chip.

Sitting between Seventh and Eighth avenues, it is an unremarkable building for the area, decorated with pigeon spikes and rusty balconies. Wedged between a sleek black '60s condo to the east and the diminutive Gainsborough Studios to the west, it looks increasingly anachronistic in a Manhattan inundated last decade with sleek new condos, intermingling with the dowager co-ops that were already the domain of the wealthy and well-connected.

"Oh my God, you could not accuse it of being beautiful," said Paula Del Nunzio, a top broker with Brown Harris Stevens who's handled high-profile listings in the Columbus Circle area. "But it has a beautiful location."

Over the past decade and a half, Columbus Circle has been transformed from the site of car shows and bargain stores into one of the city's most coveted residential spots. It started in 1997 with Donald Trump's golden Trump International, a hotel-condo development rising 52 stories at One Central Park West, and really got going in 2004, when Steve Ross' Related Companies erected the angled, two-tiered Time Warner Center for $1.7 billion. Trump International put up an enormous sign, advertising, "We have the views you want," recalls Doug Russell, one of the current brokers in the building. Thus began the battle for the choicest view of Central Park. 

The latest and best building in the area is 15 Central Park West, a 201-unit limestone tower that Robert A.M. Stern modeled after the Candela co-ops up the street. The developers started out offering units at roughly $2,500 a square foot--already a top price--but they kept asking more throughout the construction, in 2005 and 2006, until tags topped nearly $4,000. The resales have been more incredible: Recently, one of 15 CPW's developers, William Lie Zeckendorf, sold his penthouse for a city record $9,940 a square foot.

But with an 18-mile shot straight up the park and the somewhat startling reality that it will likely be the last of its kind for a long while, 220 CPS could render such sales figures quaint. Seasoned brokers note that it presents a singular opportunity to build a contemporary condo among predominantly older developments. In fact, because the border of the park along Fifth Avenue and Central Park West (except for some of the less desirable northern portion) is landmarked, this is a rare chance to build on the fringes of the park, period. 

"It's about what's real and who really will have the view that's forever," said Mr. Russell, conjuring the perfect sales pitch: "The forever park view."

The Vornado-Clarett partnership, known as Madave Properties, bought the 1950s rental complex for $131.5 million in August 2005, just as 15 CPW was topping out.

The 220 CPS complex contains a 20-story building fronting the park and a 13-story one facing 58th Street, which the developers also plan to tear down to build a luxury tower. Among the 130 units were 47 rent-stabilized ones, some of which have coveted park-facing balconies. In order to evict the residents and demolish the buildings, Madave needed approval from the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which stalled on making a final decision while tenants fought the DHCR and Madave in court.

The developers originally offered tenants $300,000 each. But given that a market-rate apartment in the neighborhood commanded upward of $8,000 a month, that was small compensation. The tenants held out. Over the course of the next five years, the developers kept offering increasing sums of money. Last month, the remaining 26 holdout tenants accepted payouts of around $1.5 million each, according to public records. 

Considering the precedent and the scope of a redeveloped 220 CPS, only a little is known about Vornado and Clarett's plans. In 2005, they tapped New Haven-based architects Pelli Clarke Pelli and SLCE Architects to draw up initial designs, which are available in the court files.

According to five-year-old plans, at least one tower could rise 41 stories, but the developers have bought up air rights that could allow it to go even higher. There would be 75 units, some more than 5,800 square feet, featuring formal layouts with libraries, terraces and multiple entertaining rooms.

Just like 15 CPW, the tower could combine the best of new and old design, Ms. Del Nunzio, the broker, said. At 15 CPW, architect Robert A.M. Stern used traditional prewar floor plans, adding modern touches like giant windows, master bathrooms and larger kitchens than a typical top-end co-op.

Madave estimated the project would cost as much as $500 million, or $1,800 a square foot, including the cost of the land. Similarly, when the Zeckendorf brothers tore down the old Mayflower Hotel and built 15 CPW, it cost an estimated $1,820 (in 2005 terms) per buildable square foot.

A person familiar with more recent ideas for 220 CPS said it would likely emulate 15 CPW's structure, with a shorter building facing the park and a taller tower behind it to maximize the views. There are, the source said, a small number of architects in the world who can achieve the desired cachet.

But others say the development should do more than imitate its predecessors--from 834 Fifth Avenue to 15 CPW. "I'm a believer that we live in the 21st century," said Andrew Dolkart, the director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University, "and it should be a 21st-century design."

Meanwhile, Gary Barnett's Extell Development is already at work on a 90-story condo-hotel at 157 West 57th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, that w
ill be the city's tallest residential building. Two-twenty CPS will strive to meet it--if not in scale, at least in prestige. "It will affect what comes out of the ground at 220 Central Park South," Mr. Wallgren said. "It will set benchmarks in terms of price, amenities."

The developers have not specified a completion date, but a project of this size inevitably promises years of disruption to the area around it.

The Gainsborough Studios, a 105-year-old landmark co-op building with only 34 apartments, is pressed against 220 CPS's exterior wall, raising concerns that the construction will unleash the usual rats and noise. Moreover, 220 CPS will rise in front of developments at 219 West 57th Street and Extell's at 225 West 57th Street, blocking some views.

"The reality is likely to be better than the perception," said Mr. Russell, the broker. "For a while, people see something's going to happen and it's going to be bad, but in the end they can still see to the right, still see to the left."

Finally, finding early buyers willing to gamble on a new luxury condo in a depressed market will prove challenging. "With 15 Central Park West, the market was extremely ebullient and people wanted to come in as soon as possible," Mr. Wallgren said. "The challenge with new developments now is that there's a 'show me' attitude. The buying public wants to come in at a later point."

Should it work, though, 220 CPS could easily be the 15 CPW of its decade and the final citadel guarding the best park views from the masses. "Real estate is a sport here in New York," Mr. Wallgren said. "People want to get back in the game."

SLIDESHOW: The Sentinels of Central Park. >>

lkusisto@observer.com

Even the experts don't have an easy time finding new office space.

After a lengthy search, one of the city's largest commercial brokerages is trading spaces in midtown. Jones Lang LaSalle is taking two floors in Vornado's 330 Madison Avenue, occupying 82,000 square feet in the base of the recently renovated tower, according to Real Estate Weekly. Vornado, run by kingpin Steve Roth, has spent upward of $100 million transforming the aging glass box into a cutting-edge, LEED-rated "green" office building.

Jones Lang LaSalle is leaving one of Mort Zuckerman's trophies, the Boston Properties-owned Citigroup Center, which has been re-branded as 601 Lexington. Real Estate Weekly calls the move yet another victory for Roth:

In 2008, Cushman & Wakefield, another large leasing and real estate services company, relocated its global headquarters from 51 West 52nd Street into about 175,000 square feet at 1290 Avenue of the Americas. Vornado, one of the city's biggest landlords, also owns 1290, making two of the city's largest brokerage companies its tenants, a fact that sources say the company will wear as a feather in its cap because brokerage companies are considered smart and sophisticated tenants and especially savvy choosers of space.

The weekly also surmises that this is an expansion for Jones Lang LaSalle, which has been ascending in the city in recent years under local CEO Peter Riguardi. One of its new neighbors is not doing so well, however. SAC Capital also just inked a deal for the 21st and 35th floors in the tower. The firm, and its notorious founder Steven A. Cohen, are currently embroiled in the major insider trading scandal.

Earlier this year, the mayor, upset about the stalled progress at a half-demolished, prime, Vornado-owned development site in downtown Boston, proclaimed his rage about comments made by Vornado chairman Steve Roth, who indicated he had encouraged blight on a prime New York site in order to win subsidies. (We reported the comments at the time; the subsequent developer bashing by the mayor is here.)

Now, per the Boston Herald, Mr. Menino's anger has been reignited by the attention paid to Vornado's giant planned office tower near the Empire State Building (called 15 Penn Plaza). The mayor apparently sent a message to Mayor Bloomberg about his feelings on the topic:

A furious Hub Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday notified Big Apple Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the developer proposing a controversial skyscraper beside the Empire State Building is the same builder that left an unfinished job - and a gaping hole - in the middle of downtown Boston.

...

"Just the arrogance of that corporation Vornado, saying we want to build a building (as high as) the Empire State Building when they have a project here in Boston that's been unfinished for over 2 years," Menino said. "Very, very, very arrogant."

Menino added, "They have no respect for the business community of Boston or the people of Boston."

To be fair to Vornado, it's not like the company is about to start development on 15 Penn Plaza tomorrow. The company says it needs a tenant, and it's just securing approvals now, not starting new high-risk projects. (Not that the lip-sealed Vornado would ever think of commenting in an article to explain this.)

The exchange with the Bloomberg administration was followed by a stern public warning in today's Boston Herald:

"This sheds a pretty harsh light on Vornado and the way they view development," said Boston Redevelopment Authority Director John Palmieri. "It obviously represents a determination on Vornado's part that Boston is not where they want to conduct business."

Yikes.

Vornado apparently saw a scaled-back plan for its stalled site—once meant to be a $700 million mixed-use development—nixed by Mr. Menino as well, according to the Herald. 

ebrown@observer.com