We're hesitant to break out the overused "bubble" cliché, but damn, yesterday's NYT real estate story on self-made real estate developers pushes the envelope:
In Brooklyn, a sculptor and installation artist, Cosimo Cavallaro, who once made a two-hour film of a burning piano, and covered a house, a hotel room and the model Twiggy with cheese all in the name of art (his Web site is www.cosimocavallaro.com), spends his time noodling with his architect, Marvin H. Meltzer, and prospecting for financial partners.His building would be called Punctilio, which coincidentally is what we felt like doing to our eyes while reading this piece. Can the downturn come fast enough?Mr. Cavallaro, a Canadian who in an earlier life made what he calls a small fortune in television commercials, wants to convert his home and studio in a former bakery on Kent Avenue, a few steps from the Williamsburg Bridge, into an 11-story luxury apartment tower, with dramatic views that he hopes will also make a significant artistic statement. "I want to build something that is beautiful; I can't build a thorn in the sky," he said with a sigh.
· In A Hot Market, Everyone Wants to be a Developer [NYTimes]