There’s a fresh prince on Bond Street.
Will Smith is renting the fourth floor of exclusive 25 Bond St. The sprawling condo on the trendy yet discreet NoHo street is 7,326 square feet, with five bedrooms and 6½ bathrooms. It had been listed for sale at $19.5 million for nearly two years but has been off the market for five weeks, according to Streeteasy.com.
The building only has nine apartments. It’s part of a cluster of prominent, pricey buildings including Ian Schrager’s 40 Bond St. and Adam Gordon’s Bouwerie Lane Theatre condo conversion at 54 Bond St.
Smith had his minions scour the streets of Manhattan for months, visiting buildings including 152 Franklin St. in TriBeCa and 54 Bond St. before settling on 25 Bond St. We hear that one woman he hired from Los Angeles would sometimes just fly in for a few hours, visit one apartment, then turn around and fly right back to the West Coast.
Smith’s search demands included privacy and a place large enough to hold his family (gorgeous wife Jada Pinkett Smith and their children) and staff. The unit he chose includes four fireplaces, ample wall space for art, a chef’s kitchen and bronze elevators providing direct access to the apartment and the basement garage. The apartment comes with two parking spots.
Crystal clear
LeBron James just made another big decision: He’s bought a new $9 million bayfront mansion on Crystal View Court in Miami. The 12,178-square-foot, six-bedroom, 8½-bathroom home, which was built this year and had an original asking price of $11.9 million, comes with a concrete dock big enough to hold two 60-foot yachts. There’s also a guest suite, a guesthouse and an infinity pool.
We hear that Miami Heat teammate Chris Bosh also checked out this home. As we exclusively reported, Bosh and teammate Dwyane Wade recently found their own homes on North Bay Road.
Sticks-to-it-iveness
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen are still looking for a new apartment in Manhattan — often with Ashley’s boyfriend, Justin Bartha, in tow. But for the holidays, the twins are renting a charming country cabin on their own — on a mountain in upstate Accord. That’s in Ulster County, an area Hollywood might be falling in love with. The twins first traveled there last summer, when they visited Catherine Keener while she was shooting “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding” with Jane Fonda and Kyle MacLachlan. Virginia Madsen also has been spotted in the area.
Trump, SoHo
Power couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have been apartment-hunting in — gasp! — non-Trump buildings. (Perhaps they are just checking out the competition.) This week, they visited a $25,000-a-month, three-bedroom rental at the new 55 Thompson building. The plush pad, at approximately 1,900 square feet, comes with a unique curved wall of glass windows, 10-foot ceilings and gorgeous SoHo views.
We hear . . .
That billonaire Charles Bronfman has signed the contract to buy a two-bedroom co-op at 810 Fifth Ave., listed at $23.5 million. . . . That during Art Basel week in Miami, Julian Lennon attended a dinner hosted by Neal Sroka’s Douglas Elliman Worldwide division at Soho Beach House, where the new Aman Nevis project was discussed. . . . That Bob and Cortney Novogratz are renovating one of Julia Roberts’ Manhattan apartments. . . . That Nest Seekers International broker Ryan Serhant will be on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” along with broker Caroline Grane.