Padma Lakshmi doesn’t seem to be letting an ugly custody battle with Adam Dell over their baby daughter, Krishna, get in the way of her search for a family-sized Manhattan home. She’s seen everything from posh Upper East Side mansions to funky downtown pads.
The “Top Chef” beauty, with Krishna in tow and wearing jeans and a fur-collared parka while being driven around in a giant stretch BMW, recently checked out multiple downtown residences including a $10.995 million five-bedroom, 4½-bath condo in the Greenwich building on West 13th Street. That unit is 4,535 square feet with flourishes like a carved medallion inspired by a 16th-century villa designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.
Brown Harris Stevens listing broker Paula Del Nunzio declined to comment.
Dell recently filed for full custody of Krishna in Manhattan Supreme Court. Lakshmi is now in a relationship with billionaire Teddy Forstmann.
Ridinger high
Internet marketing moguls Loren and JR Ridinger, founders of MarketAmerica.com, have their penthouse condo at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton building at 10 West St. on the market for $7.95 million. But while they’re waiting to find a buyer, they’re opening it up to some fancy houseguests.
While shooting her reality show, Kim Kardashian stayed at the 3,600-square-foot duplex residence atop the 40-story Battery Park City building. And now Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem — the former chairman of Dubai World, a massive holding company owned by the Dubai government — is staying in the three-bedroom, five-bathroom unit for a month or more, perhaps plotting his next move. His Dubai World gig ended in December.
As we reported in June, the Ridingers put the Ritz-Carlton unit on the market after buying a $25 million duplex at the Jean Nouvel-designed building at 100 11th Ave.
Lipps service
Scott Lipps, president of One Management, which reps models including Eva Herzigova, Devon Aoki and Iman, has listed his one-bedroom condo at 505 Greenwich St. for $1.35 million. Residents in the building include Petra Nemcova, James Frey and Ally Hilfiger. Listing brokers Wilbur Gonzalez and Richard Ball of Prudential Douglas Elliman had no comment.
Ohm run
There’s no place like Ohm for musician Zander Bleck, who is now living in the luxury rental building at 312 11th Ave., where Darryl Strawberry also has an apartment. Bleck has taken a one-bedroom apartment on one of the upper floors of the 34-story building. Available one-bedrooms in the building start at about $3,200, with higher-floor units going for more than $4,000. Bleck (who is signed to Interscope Records and works with Lady Gaga producer RedOne) might like the building’s partnership with the Knitting Factory, which curates residents-only concerts and other entertainment for Ohm.
East End eco
Hamptons developer Joe Farrell is getting in on the green movement. Farrell has partnered with Peter Sabbeth of Modern Green Home to create a new firm called Gaia Building, which will help architects and homeowners be more eco-friendly. Gaia is already doing work for artist Ross Bleckner’s Sagaponack home, which once belonged to Truman Capote.
“The changes will be very energy-efficient, modern and economical, like geothermal heat with radiant floors and solar panels for the pool,” Bleckner says.
We hear …
That literary agent Marianne “Mimi” Strong is selling a $299,000 studio apartment she bought for her nephew. The sunny, 400-square-foot studio at 160 E. 91st St., a prewar building right by the 92nd Street Y, is listed by Alta Brockinton of Prudential Douglas Elliman . . . That Nest Seekers broker Ryan Serhant, one of the stars of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” just moved into a $5,500-a-month, 1,600-square-foot 20 Pine St. rental and threw a housewarming party attended by Amanda Lepore and Jamie Drake.
‘Good’ looking
The Good Wife might be upgrading her domestic digs.
Stunning Julianna Margulies, who just won her second straight Screen Actors Guild award for her role on “The Good Wife,” scoped out the $11.95 million, 4,300-square-foot condo penthouse at 158 Mercer St. The three-bedroom, 3½-bathroom home, with 12-foot ceilings and 17 dramatic oversized windows, is owned by fashion photographer Raymond Meier.
The unit is in the New Museum building, home to rocker Jon Bon Jovi. The building is also where Ponzi scammer Bernie Madoff’s son Mark committed suicide in December.