Chi-chi Che!
Ricky Martin might be in New York City to play Argentine revolutionary Che in the Broadway revival of “Evita,” but his real estate tastes still skew toward the ultra high-end.
Martin, who’s owned condos at the Time Warner Center and 40 Bond St., is currently renting a $32,500-a-month, five-bedroom, 5 1/2-bathroom unit at the Lucida condo building on East 85th Street. The 3,478-square-foot unit includes a nearly 800-square-foot corner living/dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows. Martin, father of 3-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, also looked at the Upper East Side’s Empire and Isis buildings.
Martin’s brokers, Dennis Mangone and Pablo Alfaro of Prudential Douglas Elliman, declined to comment.
Live suite life for $165,000 a month
The most expensive rental in the city is hitting the market today — for a whopping $165,000 a month. The Astor Suite at the Plaza is 5,087 square feet. The fifth-floor unit offers three bedrooms, five bathrooms, a library, a dining room and an eat-in kitchen, plus a guest apartment with an additional bedroom and bathroom, a sitting room and a terrace.
The unit beats the Waldorf-Astoria’s $150,000-a-month, five-bedroom Cole Porter suite as NYC’s highest-priced rental.
The unit was named the Astor Suite after Donald Trump bought the building in 1988 and his former wife, Ivana, supervised construction on the suite a year later.
Now, following a multimillion-dollar renovation by its new owner, Esprit founder Jurgen Friedrich — who closed on the unit for $25 million in 2007 and then tried unsuccessfully to sell it for $55 million — the Astor Suite has been restored to its former glory and then some. The renovation was overseen by designer Steven Gambrel, who had the oak library, doors and windows made by hand in Oxford, England. The price includes furniture, electronics, art and maid service.
Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis of Prudential Douglas Elliman have the listing.
‘Count’ her in
In 2009, during the recession, Countess Marie Douglas-David, then 37, was divorcing a mogul who was 30 years older, George David, CEO of United Technologies. After deciding her $42 million prenuptial agreement wasn’t enough to maintain her lifestyle, which included a penchant for cut flowers, she did what anyone in her position would do: She contested the agreement and asked for $100 million.
Now, Douglas-David, who settled for $50 million, is looking for a home of her own. One place she has been spotted is 34 Greene St. in SoHo, where the four-bedroom, five-plus-bath, 4,998-square-foot penthouse is priced at $13.75 million. The duplex in the 1873 cast-iron building includes 15-foot ceilings and a large wraparound terrace with an outdoor shower and kitchen.
Listing brokers Frances Katzen, Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis of Prudential Douglas Elliman could not be reached for comment.
Pierre up there
What a week for hedge-fund manager Pierre Lagrange.
On Saturday, The Post reported that the Belgian-born and London-based Lagrange, co-founder of GLG Partners, is suing Manhattan’s Knoedler Gallery for duping him into buying a phony Jackson Pollock painting for $17 million — and then closing its doors. Now we can reveal that Lagrange, who’s also made headlines for splitting with wife Catherine Anspach to live as an openly gay man with designer Roubi L’Roubi, just closed on a gorgeous three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse duplex at the HL23 condo building (above) directly above the High Line.
The 3,634-square-foot unit with a $12 million asking price in the ultra-modern, Neil Denari-designed building includes a top floor that is surrounded on three sides by a 1,173-square-foot wraparound terrace.
Brown Harris Stevens listing broker Erin Boisson Aries declined to comment.
We hear . . .
That Jennifer Aniston will soon be listing her two apartments at 299 W. 12th St. She might be close to buying a new love shack to live in with boyfriend Justin Theroux . . . That a serious potential buyer is taking a close look at Brooklyn’s most expensive apartment, the ClockTower penthouse, priced at $23.5 million, at DUMBO’s 1 Main St.