Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Alexis Stewart, Space Hog


BUYER: Martha Stewart (originally thought to be Alexis Stewart)
LOCATION: 165 Charles Street, 15th Floor, New York City
PRICE: $16,000,000
SIZE: 4,890 square feet, 4-6 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms (total for both units)
DESCRIPTION: The apotheosis of living as art. Sited atop Pritzker Prize-laureate Richard Meier's final iconic tower on the Hudson River is this unique parcel of units to be easily combined. A plalette both cool and sleek swaths the elegant, sparse lines within the individual rooms, replicated throughout the holistic thesis. With a total of 5 bedrooms, riverfront balconies, formal dining room and 5.5 baths...

YOUR MAMAS UPDATE: Check out the update for this purchase...

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: That's right babies, Alexis Stewart, the daughter of media tycoon and domestic diva Martha Stewart, just spent $16 million smackers on two adjacent apartments comprising the entire 15th floor and 4,879 square feet of Richard Meier's breathtaking glass tower on the corner of Hudson and Charles Streets in the West Village. This is not the first time Alexis has been to this horse race. According to Max Abelson of the New York Observer, in September 2006 the younger Ms. Stewart spent just over $19,000,000 to gobble up three contiguous units at the Charles Street building which she intends to combine into a 6,900 square foot triplex apartment.

We hate to sound like a hater, but Your Mama smells her mama's buttery leather Hermes wallet. Don't you? Alexis earns her own money yakking it up on Sirius Satellite Radio where she hosts a program with Jennifer Hutt called Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer. However, we find it impossible to believe she's pulling down enough paper to acquire $35,000,000 in real estate in one fell swoop. Your Mama used to think having Big Miss Martha as our mama would be dismal, but we're starting to rethink that.

The first two Meier towers, sheathed in green glass, house many notable New Yorkers and household name celebrities including Calvin Klein (triplex penthouse at 176 Perry), Vincent Gallo (at 173 Perry) and Scott Resnick (also at 173 Perry). Even Big Miss Martha once owned in these buildings. She paid $6,100,000 for the duplex penthouse at 173 Perry, but never moved in and sold the unit just prior to her imprisonment in 2004.

The third and final Meier tower, at 165 Charles, has been completely sold and many of its residents also have recognizable names including Natalie Portman and gallerist Barbara Gladstone.

The Meier towers, for all their publicity and big name tenants, have been mired in controversy, particularly the north building at 173 Perry. An article that ran in a 2004 issue of Vanity Fair had owners complaining about buckling terraces, failing heat, and leaking ceilings. In fact before selling her apartment, Big Miss Martha's penthouse terrace flooded sending water cascading down the building. The damage was so extensive that one owner, six floors below the penthouse, was forced to have his expensive rosewood floor ripped up and re-installed due to the water damage.

The buildings were also plagued by a never caught gunman who shot at the building on several different occasions. The bullets never came through the glass, but you can imagine the fear and panic this caused. Even still, the high drama has not kept the apartments from turning over or the prices sky-rocketing. Many of the buildings' original owners have already flipped their apartments making enormous profits.

Your Mama has a funny little story, unrelated to the real estate, about the younger Ms. Stewart. We have a gal pal, whom we will call Loreliei, who has spent a great deal of time at all of Big Miss Martha's properties including her house on Lily Pond Lane in Southampton. One day a few years ago Lorelei was standing in the driveway of the Lily Pond Lane house and sees the younger Ms. Stewart across the yard with her dog and a plastic bag full of doggy poop. After a quick glance around and thinking no one can see her, Alexis tossed the bag into the tall hedge at the edge of the property.

We're not sure if she did this because she was too lazy to take the shit to the garbage can or if this was a small act of rebellion and defiance towards her mama who, as you might imagine, does not tolerate any dog poop left in the yard.

We can't be sure what Alexis is planning to do with the 11,000+ square footage she now owns, but Max Abelson reported that his source told him that Alexis hired fancy schmancy celebrity architect Annabel le Selldorf to re-do and combine the interiors.

Your Mama would like the children to note that the photos above are not the apartments purchased by Alexis, but were nicked from the building's online publicity brochure. Also for those not overly familiar with New York City and the Meier buldings, 165 Charles is the tower at the right of the photo. The floor plan shown is the original layout of the apartments on the 15th floor, however, we don't know if there were any alterations to this layout before Ms. Stewart purchased.

Sources: NY Observer, New York Times, nyc-architecture.com (building photo), 165Charles.com (floorplan and interior photos)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Perry Street condos also house Gisele Bundchen & Nicole Kidman owns one but still hasn't moved in yet ... A couple of the Perry St apts have been on the market for several years now ... they just aren't selling ... Charles St is much nicer but lately a few studios / 1 bed apts became available but the prices are ludicrous ... I mean, $2.1 million for 800sq ft ... No way!

Your Mama said...

Hi hunny, Yes, the prices are shockingly high at 165 Charles...but several studios have sold in the 1.5 million range. In our post about Kelly Ripa, we discussed Kidman's 12th floor unit at 176...It's actually owned in the name of her sister. We've heard Gisele bought here, but property records don't reflect this purchase, so we are unable to confirm that rumor.

Anonymous said...

hey - so cool you reply! i live in 165 charles (2300 sq ft) considerably less than ms stewart lol ... gisele definitely lives in 176 ... perhaps she rents? yeah, the prices at 165 now are ridiculous ... my family bought my place before completion so was considerbaly less than what they're selling for now ... the south studio on the 2nd floor though - $2.1 million is just incredible considering the studio below is $1.5 million ... anyways, love ur blog ... keep up the good work & i'll keep you updated on the comings & goings of 165 - lol

Anonymous said...

isn't being rich just the bessssssssst? actually, when you tak "money" or of the equation, of "bein rich" you can see really clearly now. isert reggae song here

i think either Jack Nicholson or Leornardo di Caprio may be the father of my chile ...


signed

siser mary cheny ...

Anonymous said...

Nobody is talking 'money' or being 'rich' ... simply commenting on a manhattan building that was featured on the blog ... any sensible person understands manhattan real estate is expensive & posting dumb ass remarks is just stupid - perhaps you should get a life instead of making assumptions about someone you know nothing about.

Anonymous said...

well, maybe YOU'RE not talking money or about being rich--cause your family sprung for your 2300 square feet of space over there on Charles street--but we Cheney girls were raised with two ideas in mind: one, get a paper route and learn the value of making your own money. and two, marry a man that papa-dick is comfortable being around, which is one reason I chose Heather Poe to be my husband.

sorry, got 2 go ... writing an article for the Wall Street Journal about the new line of feminine mystique hygene products!

sister mary cheney

Anonymous said...

if you're going to live in NYC, that's the way to do it! wish i had me a rich mama.

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