Unit 5D is one of the first units to be sold in San Francisco’s Infinity Tower II, and according to reports, the luxury condo is right on mark in terms of price.

With a going price of $849,000, unit 5D features 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office nook. Real estate gurus are noting that this price isn’t too far off from what can be expected at the location, considering that 2 bedrooms units were starting in the high $700,000 earlier this year. Owners of units at the Infinity Towers will also be paying $754 a month in dues, as well as costs for a club room, a gym, a lap pool, and so on.

The soaring glass covered tower, launched this past February, is most likely one of the last luxury condo developments of its scale set to debut for a while, so potential condo buyers are encouraged to jump in and buy while the deals are this good.

Via: Curbed San Francisco

Attention all fine-dining uptown New York City luxury hotel aficionados! The recently renovated Pierre Hotel has just opened the highly anticipated on site Le Caprice restaurant.

As a renowned and highly successful London import, Le Caprice is owned by Richard Caring. Caring is also the legendary restaurant owner of the New York and London Soho House and McNally’s Pulino. Now he is opening his $7 million New York Le Caprice restaurant for all of the city’s high-end customers dining enjoyment. Caring notes, “If my American clientele are loyal, they will get tables. I want buzz.”  Like its British sister, Le Caprice’s décor is all in black and white, with a large collection of photographs by David Bailey.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant certainly is set to be one of New York’s newest dining hot spots.

Via: Eater New York

Ever dreamt about living in a luxury estate on the shores of the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon in San Francisco? If you have, you’re in for an offer that you may not be able to refuse.

Located on the northern tip of the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon is a combination of two houses that just had a significant drop in price. Previously listed at $8,180,000 the home is now going for $7,400,000 saving you more than half a million dollars. The 7,000-square-foot home “discretely becomes part of the beautiful park that embraces the Palace of Fine Arts” and features five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms.

Designed by renowned architects and builders, Remick Associates, the rooftop penthouse of the home has a large deck overlooking the park with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. Below the penthouse there is an upper floor comprised of two beautifully designed master suites, an additional bedroom, and a magnificent wood paneled office. Venture one floor further down and you will find a large family room, kitchen, and a living and dining room inter-connected in an open floor plan that emphasizes the entire sixty-five-foot expanse of the home. Throughout the home there are curved bay windows which reflect the circular sweep of the Palace of Fine Arts.

Via: Curbed San Francisco, 2140 Jefferson Street

While King of Pop, Michael Jackson’s, body is finally resting at the Forest Lawn cemetery in California, information surrounding his flamboyant and larger than life existence remains front and center of many news reports.

Known for his musical talent, charitable character and headline-grabbing antics, Jackson is also infamously remembered for his love of extravagant real estate. According to new reports, just prior to his untimely death, Jackson was allegedly in negotiations to buy another opulent home in Los Angeles.

Known to many as “Tar Estate” or “Tar Mahal” in reference to its current owner, Yousuf Tar, the home sits on 2.4 acres in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles and is currently listed on the market for $37,995,000. The extremely vast estate features 20,000 square feet of lavish interior space, 15 bedrooms, 16 and a half bathrooms, a two-story guest house that overlooks a swimming pool complex, a spa, a fitness center, a 20-car garage, a dining room large enough for 50 guests, five fireplaces, a cigar and wine tasting room, and a vast master suite with three wall-mounted televisions and two large marble bathrooms that include gold swam faucets.

While Jackson’s financial troubles stopped him from purchasing the home back in 2001 when he originally became interested in it, recent reports are indicating that Jackson planned to use some of the funding he was anticipated to acquire through his This Is It tour, scheduled for just weeks after to his death, to purchase the home. There are no current reports as to who may be next in line to buy the home instead of Jackson, but considering who was previously interested, it’s assumed it won’t be your average Joe.

Via: The Real Estalker

Nello Balan is gracing our blogs again, though this time it isn’t linked to a $20k lunch. No, this time Balan is garnering attention for another lawsuit, this time he is being sued by two of his suppliers for his Madison Avenue restaurant, Nello.

Apparently, Balan has some past-due bills to West Conn Meat in the Bronx, a tab that’s run up to about $28,000 at this point. But that’s not all. Over on the East Side, Pisacane Mid-Town Corp. has a score to settle with Balan to the tune of $16,400.

His Southampton dining spot, Nello Summertimes (I love his creative names!) is involved in an additional suit for $14,000 and even jeweler Chopard has a past due bill with Balan’s name on it for some diamond earrings worth $50,000.

Deemed a “slow player in the industry” by Randy Sarf, a credit collections company big shot; he really should consider tweaking that description to slow payer.

Via: NY Post

Jeremy Piven is one of those celebrities that people just can’t seem to get enough of. No matter how mundane his day-to-day activities may be, die-hard fans of his show Entourage follow loyally. This week, however, Piven has been running circles around fans and the media as he stayed in New York City sparking rumors left and right that he’s buying property…again. Some reports are indicating this is some sort of Piven-media-tactic us non-celebs just can’t understand, with records of Piven playing real estate tag numerous times before. Let me explain.

Last week Piven was in New York City to promote his new film. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, right? He was saying in a luxurious three-bedroom, 4,800-square-foot triplex penthouse in the Prime condo building at 333 W. 14 Street for a week. While he was there, it was reported that Piven may actually be interested in buying the triplex penthouse—but Piven tends to be notorious for getting his name in the media for his “considerations of buying properties” everywhere he goes. Skeptics are assuming one of two things; either Piven is allowing developers to use his name as publicity for free, or in exchange for using his name as a ‘potential buyer’, Piven is accepting free lodging for his time at these temporary lodgings.

This past week’s real estate confusion is just one of many times over the past few years when Piven has been involved in “considering buying where he’s staying” before, eventually, the deal falls through.

On the other hand, Piven does actually own a 2,242-square-foot house in Malibu, California which he purchased in 2004 for $3.5 million. He also previously owned (and then sold) the following properties: a 1,736-square-foot house in Santa Monica, California, and a top-floor loft unit in Chicago.

As for the Prime condo building…well, resident Entourage fans should probably not hold their breath in anticipation of having Piven as their neighbor. While one never knows for sure until Piven makes his next move, history does speak volumes for the actor, and betting against it is probably a safe bet.

Via: Big Time Listings

Australian Greg Norman may be a golfing legend, but someone at his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Chris Evert’s Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic charity event doesn’t seem to want him to appear.

Previously scheduled to be in attendance at the charity event, Norman is now assumed to be a no-show due to the looming divorce between him and his wife of less than a year. What will he be missing? Well, the November 7-8 charity tennis tournament is the 20th annual Delray Beach/Boca Raton fundraiser hosted by Evert and it is set to be quite the celebrity-packed place to be…minus one golfing celebrity.

With Norman gone, it was assumed the event organizers will try to find an adequate replacement to maintain the level of high-status appearances. Assumption confirmed. Handsome actor Jeffery Donovan, star of Burn Notice the popular showed based in Miami, will be entering the tennis court to support the cause instead of Norman.

Other stars scheduled to make an appearance include: former tennis star Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Justin Gimelstob, Vince Spadea, actress Elisabeth Shue, comic Jon Lovitz, reality TV stars Bruce and Kris Jenner, singer Gavin Rossdale, and Today host Matt Lauer.

Event publicist, Tip Nunn, doesn’t seem fazed about Norman dropping out of the lineup. He comments, “It’s one of the freshest lineups in years. Among the tennis players, you have four former women’s No. 1 players. And there are several new names on the entertainers’ side. Donovan and the Jenners have never been here before. And it’s been years since we saw Matt Lauer.”

Via: Page 2 Live

Miami Beach’s Delano Hotel is yet again proving it’s a one-of-a-kind place. According to recent reports, the luxury hotel is one of the few SoBe establishments to avoid significantly decreases its prices, despite the recession.

While word that the recession may be nearing an end was optimistically roaring across news stations yesterday, the Delano has somehow managed to keep their room prices in the $538 per night range over the past year, despite the tough economical times. While the hotel did, in fact, endure a 10 percent drop in rates from last year’s prices, the Delano Hotel is sticking out like a sore thumb compared to other luxury hotels on the beach that dropped their prices significantly more in direct relation to the failing economy.

Fred Kleisner, chief executive of Morgans Hotel Group, owners of the Delano, argues that the renowned hotel should not give up its position as a market leader simply to follow price-reducing trends. Despite the fact that the group reported a 21 percent drop in occupancy in 2008, Kleisner points out that they are actually seeing a rebound effect from “wealthy travelers in the New York, London, and Los Angeles locations.”

The Delano South Beach, however, is not yet showing similar progress. With the branch facing a wave of new luxury properties in the workings, however, the group is hoping things will be equally positive on all fronts in the near future.

Via: The Real Deal

Some of New York City’s Midtown residents and the Museum of Modern Art  were in the middle of a large scale building debate…except now the debate appears to be over, with the City Council granting the project final approval a few days ago.
The Museum of Modern Art has requested (and received) the city’s permission to build an 82-story tower adjacent to the MoMA. The tower will be primarily for additional exhibit space; however there are also plans to include luxury housing and hotel rooms.

The MoMA tower was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and will rise 1,025 feet (as tall as the Chrysler building) above 53 Street in Midtown. Despite large scale community opposition, the tower’s zooming variances flying through the council this week by a vote of 44-3 means that there appears to be little left to do for those who oppose the project.

Justin Peyser, whose West 54 Street apartment faces the tower site and who is a member of the anti-tower Coalition for Responsible Midtown Development, says, “Nobody is against fine architecture. The problem is where it’s being built.” Councilman Dan Garodnick, whose district begins just North of the tower at 54 Street, agrees and adds, “The size is what really makes it difficult for my constituents to support. If it was a smaller building with fewer years of construction it might be a different story.”

But not everyone is sees it that way. Council Speaker Chris Quinn, whose Manhattan district includes the tower site, said, “This is going to be an iconic addition to New York City’s skyline, really a one-of-its-kind building.”

There is no official word yet on when the project will get underway, or regarding how long it will take to build. Hines, the firm in charge of construction, paid The Museum of Modern Art $125 million for the site. A spokesman for Hines say the tower will “contribute significantly to the city’s architectural heritage and economy while enabling the museum to show even more of our collection to the public.”

Via: The New York Post

Call it what you will, but that elusive hour just after you leave work has so much baggage and yet, so much potential.  It’s that hour when you’re yearning for something to erase those that came before it or yearning for something to hold off what’s coming in the next few.  Whatever it means to you, there are places across our city that celebrate that hour with cheap food, cheap drinks, and mood lighting.  They like to call it happy hour and considering that while some get off work at 5pm, others are still grinding until more like 8pm, these places are willing to stretch that hour for you.

Drago Centro has an impressive space complete with irresistible wine tower and now an equally enticing happy hour during which they offer you a chance to get happy all day.  A menu with inexpensive drinks and small bites is available so long as you get there within their opening hours.  Think $4 beers, $5 cocktails, and small plates that don’t exceed $8.  We’re feeling happier already.

At West Hollywood’s Andaz Hotel, the RH Bar knows what it is you need right at 5pm.  You’ve been waiting for the hour to strike, so waste no time tucking into any of their complimentary bites that come with any cocktail you order between 5 and 7pm.

Also, in West Hollywood, in what was formerly known as The Boulevard, you’ll find The Hudson – a brand new “neighborhood” joint that offers up a tempting happy hour from 4 – 7pm.  A revamped train station, this restaurant not only serves up comfortable American dishes, but you’ll also find a significant collection of California wines and some interesting beer selections.

Hitting the gallery scene in Culver City can leave you yearning for a cheap glass of wine and perhaps a meatball slider or two.  Fraiche Culver City has a “gourmet hour” (it also makes you happy) featuring meatball sliders for $5, a couple of Italian wines for $4 a glass as well as $4 cocktails.  Sustained and happy!