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On Sept. 19, marketing agents for the new Richard Meier-- designed glass buildings on Perry Street along the Hudson River threw a quiet open-house party to announce that Martha Stewart's duplex unit was on the market for $8 million. A few naked light bulbs set off the bleak, gray cement floors in a raw space that still hungered for the domestic goddess' touch.
Though the ImClone insider-trading scandal was undoubtedly on most people's minds, it wasn't on anyone's lips. Instead, as they sipped champagne and wandered around the dusty space, they wondered aloud whether they'd be able to find another $8 million buyer in the current, colder climate.
The gathering presented a sharp contrast to the wild party of November 2000, when Mr. Meier invited a throng to gather at chef Jean Georges Vongerichten's eponymous restaurant to celebrate the building's groundbreaking.The celebrity wattage seemed to refract off the glass models of Mr. Meier's plannedtowers:Mr. Vongerichten had already reserved a unit for himself, as had Calvin Klein, to be followed later by Nicole Kidman, hotelier Ian Schrager's ex-wife Rita, and, of course, Ms. Stewart.
But Ms. Stewart's exit from the Perry Street condo mirrors that of many beleaguered tycoons who find themselves listing and leaving their flashy, tabloid-fodder digs for more modest accommodations. Ms. Stewart's friend Sam Waksal, who sold her on all that ImClone stock, sold his Sagaponack home for $3.125 million in July, and his Wainscott house is on the market for $4.9 million.
Sinking Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione's double-wide mansion on East 67th Street is to be auctioned on Nov. 15. It was originally asking $40 million.SeagramheirEdgar Bronfman Jr., whose company has been the big loser in its merger with Vivendi, has put his double- wide mansion on East 64th Street on the market for $40 million.Meanwhile,Vivendi Universal is looking to sell the apartment the company bought for former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier at 515 Park Avenue for upwards of $20 million. Cash-strapped Telecom chief Laurence Zimmerman is selling his apartment in the same building for $26 million.
Ex--Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski's apartment at 950 Fifth Avenue will hit the market as soon as it's clear who's selling. The troubled company has said it plans to seize the $18 million property and...