1) Two and a half years after scooping up three condos in the Gretsch building (modeled at right), and one year after we were lead to believe he closed on them, Brooklyn real estate kingpin Busta Rhymes will try to unload the Williamsburg properties after closing (for real this time) next week. He's asking $500,000 for the open-loft studio he WOO-HAH!'d for $400,000, $635,000 for a 900sf one-bedroom he YAHYAHYAH!'d for $500,000, and $725,000 for the larger one-bedroom, which has a balcony and was BOOM!'d at an undisclosed price. Looks like Flipmode was more than just a catchy name for his clique. [Braden Keil/NYPost]
2) Legenary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, currently at work on the story of Christo and The Gates, is moving out of the Dakota after 35 years. Maysles bought a pair of townhouses in Harlem for a combined $1.7 million, and he's renovating them so his four adult children can move back to the nest. Of note is his struggle to get a buyer through the Dakota's co-op board. They turned down Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, who Maysles described (loosely, we assume) as "creative people." They eventually approved some non-famous rich guy, who ponied up $3 mil. [William Neuman/Big Deal]
3) Fret not for Melanie and Puss-in-Boots, though. After being rejected by the Dakota, the couple scooped up a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom co-op in what we are led to believe is the Prasada, another high-profile CPW building. The place has tree-line views of the park and a room for the nanny. Price was $3.995 million. Take that, creativity-denying bastards! [S.Jhoanna Robledo/NYMag]
4) Record label mogul/two-time pop star husband Tommy Mottola has bought an entire floor of 110 CPS, formerly the Ritz-Carlton and Intercontinental hotels at Central Park South. He spent more than $9 million on the three apartments, but since the building is still undergoing extensive renovations he will continue to shack up in his rental, where he's Randy Johnson's neighbor. [Braden Keil/NYPost]
Filed under: