By Roland Li

French art director Fabien Barron, head of Interview magazine and creative director for Calvin Klein, has purchased a townhouse at 55 West 9th Street for $9.4 million, according to city records. The seller was Victor Hazan, an Italian wine writer, who is married to Marcella Hazan, an Italian cooking guru. Hazan bought the property for $1.35 million in 1995. The property was first listed in June 2009 for $11.75 million, before being cut to $10.75 million in December 2009 and $10 million in March 2010. Read more...

By Roland Li

The estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings has taken control of a luxury hotel at 2170-2178 Broadway for just over $191 million, according to city records. Kimberly Macleon, a spokeswoman for the estate, confirmed the transaction. “The strategy of the estate has been to maximize the value of its properties – not to fire sale them,” she said. Atlanta-based firm Trimont Real Estate Advisors represented Lehman in the transaction. Read more...

By Roland Li

The lobby of 1633 Broadway, a 48-story black tower in midtown, is marble and granite, with a central waterfall. On a recent afternoon, a pianist performed near the elevator banks. But despite its striking appearance, the building’s owner and manager, the Paramount Group, plans to renovate the lobby in the fall, with architecture firm the Phillips Group overseeing the design. Read more...

By Roland Li

Eli Braha’s Berkley Acquisitions, a New York-based developer, has purchased 53 Greene Street for $10.8 million, according to sources. Braha declined to comment. The all-cash transaction was financed by the Praedium Group, a New York-based real estate investor and fund manager. The seller was 8008 Realty Corporation, according to city records, a local landlord who had owned the property since the 1940s. Read more...

By Daniel Geiger

Icahn Associates, the investment firm run by the financier and corporate raider Carl Icahn, is in preliminary talks to renew its lease at the top of the General Motors Building, one of the priciest and most exclusive office towers in the city.

Although a renewal deal is only in preliminary talks, sources say, many view Icahn as a captive tenant in the property, the kind of successful, deep-pocketed firm likely to pay the building’s hefty premium in order to remain at one of the city’s most prestigious addresses. Read more...