For as long as he lived, reclusive real estate baron William Gottlieb hoarded properties and refused to sell them (or prevent them from falling apart) even when his preferred neighborhoods?the West Village, Meatpacking District, Nolita, etc.?became gold mines. Now, after a long a bitter legal fight, the Gottlieb empire is in the hands of Bill's nephew, Neil Bender, who is equally mysterious but has already shown a desire to actually make shit happen. First we had the Nolita Shake Shack deal (torpedoed by neighborhood NIMBYs) and now this sudden shocker. Last week Halstead put up listings for a pair of townhouses, 79 Horatio Street on the West Village/MePa border, and 104 East 10th Street in the East Village. The listings have little info beyond the asking prices, $8.5 million and $6 million, respectively, but make no mistake about it: These are straight from the Gottlieb collection. Hope Satan has a sweater!
The Wall Street Journal is just as shocked as we are, and quotes one lawyer who has sparred with Bender in the past as saying the sale of Gottlieb property, especially now, means Bender needs to raise cash. We know plenty about 79 Horatio Street, a five-unit, 10-story building that's seen better days. It was actually co-owned by another party, but feuding led to an auction led to Bender buying the whole place. What's the deal with 104 East 10th Street? Turns out the place is almost as mysterious as Bill Gottlieb himself.
A Curbed tipster points us to a New York Times story from 1998 on the townhouse, where, "The doors are peeling and the address '104' looks as though it was written in blood." The old S.R.O. is/was home to avant-garde performer Edgar Oliver, who recently performed a one man show that took audience members on a voyage "through the dark and strange rooms" of the house. The place is so creepy, even the PropertyShark file photo shows a specter of some sort hanging out in one of the windows. Let's just say a gut renovation is a must, and an exorcism is recommended.
· Gottlieb-Estate Buildings for Sale [WSJ]
· Listing: 104 East 10th Street [Halstead]
· Listing: 79 Horatio Street [Halstead]
· All Gottliebs coverage [Curbed]
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