It’s complicated for actor Alec Baldwin.
We’re talking about his apartment hunt (although the same might be said for the bachelor’s search for a soul mate).
We had previously reported on the “30 Rock” star’s visits to Upper West Side trophy pads, including trips to the Dakota. And now he’s taking his quest downtown. He was spotted in SoHo last week, where he checked out the $13.75 million penthouse duplex at 34 Greene St.
The penthouse, carved out of two 19th-century cast-iron buildings that have been combined, measures 5,000 square feet. There’s 4,000 square feet — and a fireplace, gourmet kitchen and 15-foot ceilings — on the fifth floor, and another 1,000 square feet of space one floor up. And that’s not counting 2,200 square feet of outdoor space, which includes a grill and a shower. The outdoor space has been built to reinforce a pool and hot tub if a buyer wants to add such flourishes. Broker Jason Karadus of Prudential Douglas Elliman could not be reached for comment.
The seven-unit development was conceived by Veronica Mainetti, who heads the US office of the Sorgente Group, an Italian real estate firm. We hear that Sorgente is in contract to buy three more cast-iron buildings a little south in TriBeCa, and the firm has expressed interest in buying part of the Woolworth Building. Sorgente already owns the Flatiron Building and sold a stake in the Chrysler Building in 2008.
Color of money
When Gracie Mansion interior designer Jamie Drake decided to sell his East Hampton estate, hundreds of people flocked to the open house. The home was listed just before Thanksgiving and was in contract before Christmas — for $2.75 million, Drake says. The closing is this Friday.
Known for his bold and whimsical use of color, Drake had transformed his five-bedroom, six-plus-bath home on Bull Path into an eclectic wonderland. The 6,200-square-foot home is filled with color: a bright blue living room with accents of yellow, a coral library, a light chartreuse master bedroom and guest rooms in colors like strawberry pink, lavender, aqua and sage green.
The house sits on 3.3 acres, with lush gardens, a 40-foot-long pool and a romantic, three-story-high garden folly, which Drake calls “a tree house in the woods.”
The new owners, who don’t want to be named, are a New York City-based couple with four sons.
Brokers Liz Omedes, Noel Berk and Cathleen Civale of Mercedes/Berk had the listing.
Plumeri deal
We hear Joseph Plumeri, chairman and CEO of insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, is in contract to buy a $23.5 million full-floor co-op at 995 Fifth Ave. (right). The 15th-floor apartment is one of the last available residences at the conversion of the former Stanhope Hotel, where the late John F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly stayed during rocky times in his marriage.
Plumeri’s 8,300-square-foot, full-floor flat, with five bedrooms and 7½ baths, has fabulous views of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park. The sale was handled by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group in conjunction with Michele Kleier of Gumley Haft Kleier. While Kleier confirmed that there was a deal, she would not comment on the buyer.
Another full-floor unit, on the 16th floor, is available for $28.5 million.
Toy story 2
The toy “marketing genius” who is in contract to buy Ponzi king Bernie Madoff’s Upper East Side penthouse has put his palatial Time Warner Center pad on the market for $33.6 million.
It looks like Al Kahn, CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, who has made millions off of Cabbage Patch Kids and Pokémon, is slightly downsizing and looking for a windfall in the process. His sprawling, shiny, 4,350-square-foot Time Warner Center condo is on the 62nd floor of 25 Columbus Circle. Madoff’s old 4,000-square-foot duplex co-op, at the corner of East 64th Street and Lexington Avenue, isn’t much smaller, but it had a much lower asking price of $8.9 million.
We hear that Al and his wife, Patsy, have enjoyed entertaining in their Columbus Circle sky house, but they also fell in love with the Madoff penthouse’s terrace. The brokers listing the Time Warner Center unit, Elizabeth Lee Sample and Brenda Powers of Brown Harris Stevens, declined to comment.