Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel might be publicly downplaying their future plans together, but JT is also buying a New York condo with more than enough room for two.
Timberlake, whose search for a Manhattan pad with Biel has been reported here, has gone to contract on a TriBeCa three-bedroom with a $5.25 million price tag. According to the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing, the 3,000-square-foot loft, located in the Pearline Soap Factory condo building on Washington Street, features a 52-foot-long living/dining area, a gourmet kitchen with top appliances, 14 floor-to-ceiling windows facing all four directions and views including sunsets over the Hudson River. There is also a sound system, lighting system and very useful electronic shades.
Listing broker and Hollywood scion Raphael De Niro did not return phone calls, and Timberlake’s rep had no comment.
JT and JB have reportedly been living together at Timberlake’s mansion in LA since the summer.
Hugh got a deal
Hugh Jackman is the new owner of a triplex apartment at 176 Perry St. The Aussie song-and-dance man and his wife have just closed on tech titan William Joy’s sprawling 12-room, 11,000-square-foot spread for $21 million – or $19 million less than its original asking price of $40 million.
Last month, Jackman was reported to be in contract (at a higher number) for the unit with a last price tag of $33 million.
Joy spent $17.57 million for the condo five years ago. He then hired Richard Meier, the architect of the transparent green-hued building, to design the interior.
Included in the apartment – with all floors connected by a circular staircase – is a double-height living room overlooking the Hudson River, five bedrooms, five full bathrooms, two powder rooms, a professional kitchen, a 51-by-16-foot master bedroom, an exercise room, a large recreation room, a music room, a library and multiple terraces.
The surroundings aren’t unfamiliar to Jackman, who had been a renter in the building.
Listing broker Roger Erickson of Sotheby’s had no comment.
Taking a chancellor
Joel Klein is an educated consumer.
The chancellor of the city’s schools – who has been mentioned as a candidate for secretary of Education under Barack Obama – and his wife, Nicole Seligman, are about to close on the Sag Harbor home of author Harry Hurt III and chef Alison Becker for $2 million. The last asking price was $2.25 million.
Built in the 1850s, the compound features a renovated main house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, a chef’s kitchen with a fireplace and a large screened porch. Included in the in-town quarter-acre lot is a heated pool, a two-room pool house and a former butcher’s shop that Hurt converted into a writer’s studio with a full bath.
The property first went on the market earlier this year for $2.5 million as part of Hurt and Becker’s divorce agreement. “Joel and Nicole are getting a good deal, and I hope they’re good stewards of the property,” Hurt says.
The listing broker is the Corcoran Group’s Mala Sander, and Corcoran’s Tara Newman is representing Klein.
Mottola changes tune
Real-estate-rich Tommy Mottola is minus a property. Sources say the entertainment mogul, and his wife, pop singer Thalia, have sold their 12-acre Westchester estate for $15 million.
The 15-room Aspen-style residence in North Salem, which was completed in 2006, briefly went on the market that year for $21 million. It was re-listed a year later with a last asking price of just under $18 million.
The custom house includes five bedrooms, six-plus baths, fireplaces, a gym, custom doors made from 200-year-old thrashing-board stalls, vaulted ceilings and Hudson Valley views.
The last listing brokers were Daniel Ginnel of Ginnel Real Estate and Dolly Lenz of Prudential Douglas Elliman.