LuxuryBlurb
Posts Tagged ‘madonna’
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
  Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 11th, 2012
While the Occupy Wall Street movement exposed the deep divide between the 1% and the 99%, bonuses dropped sharply even for some of the wealthiest and President Obama announced a new budget that includes raised taxes on the wealthy, the super-wealthy have been building some exceptionally large houses around the country, including in Manhattan. In to-day’s Wall Street Journal, an article exposes some new additions to the mega-compound-class: an almost 50,000sf house in Los Angeles for the Pritzker family, a 70,000sf house for a Saudi Prince, an 18,000+ sf shack for Giselle and Tom Brady (who’s laughing last?), and many more…..
In Manhattan we are seeing a similar trend. There are several homes in New York either just completed or under construction that add to this class of mega-mansion that a few years ago was thought to be on the road to extinction. Wrong. The spectacular 20,000sf+ compound in Greenwich Village belonging to Noam Gottesman is estimated to have cost over $ 50million. Another mega-house designed by Annabelle Selldorf is being constructed just up the road on Greenwich Street. Talk about combining apartments? Several houses in the Village have been combined to create mega-homes. Madonna’s mega-mansion on East 81st Street is just completing a mega-face-lift (two for one?): With a width of 57 feet (almost as wide as Madonna’s new wide face) it measures well over 20,000sf. There are many more examples.
While the 99% must be outraged by this excessive consumption as we race towards a two class world, the 1% could argue quite well that these properties employ hundreds of people to build, landscape and decorate them, and then provide jobs for many to service and maintain them. Each of these properties generates a huge volume of real estate taxes too. And they generated lots of transfer taxes when they were purchased. There is sales tax on interior fittings and decoration, not to mention art….. and these homes are often re-decorated every 7-10 years…. So yes, its a tremendous level of indulgence for the owners, but those left staring from the curb should know that these mega-mansions benefit the entire community and economy too.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012
 Posted on February 4th, 2012 by Leonard Steinberg.
In a desperate attempt to find a lighter topic for a newsworthy real estate post, to-day I am trying to find meaning in the story of the weekend….SUPER BOWL. Yes, even I know its Super Bowl this weekend, although my attention is mostly focused on the half-time show. What message is 53-year old pop tart Madonna sending to us all, besides her highly choreographed, lip-synching performance? Did I just say 53-year-old-POP-TART??
To me, Madonna is sending a very potent message about 50-something year old’s in our world. Its especially noticeable in the wealthy environment of New York real estate. Do you remember what 50 years old used to look like? Well, it does not look like Madonna, although we are all certain this look is not natural. Maybe the entire package is un-natural, but maybe it’s a very important evolutionary revelation…. Madonna represents an entire breed I call the NOUVELLE 50 who have absolutely no desire to be associated or identified with anything that 50-somethings were from the past. This new breed of 50-going-on-40-somethings are youthful in their spirit, wear the clothes of people half their ages, have bodies that are lithe and youthful, and have skin as smooth as a 30-something. They do not want to be associated with anything tired or dull. They eat at the latest, greatest restaurants (although very, very small portions), they travel extensively, spend lavishly, work extremely hard at maintaining their youthful appearance and attitude, and more importantly for this blog, they want to live in more youthful environments.
The vast migration of Uptowners downtown is remarkable: couples with grown kids moving from very fancy Fifth Avenue apartments to West Chelsea? If the environment looks youthful, I guess it enhances the imagery. More importantly, the uptowners are decorating their homes to look like sleek, modern downtown (youthful) lofts. Real estate developers love this NOUVELLE 50 demographic: many are suffering mid-life crises, re-evaluating their place on the planet, coming to terms that life is not forever, and that youth is further away than ever…..most importantly, they are mostly much wealthier than their somewhat-similar-looking 30-something counterparts. They have disposable cash. Sassy divorcee’s often have big bucks to play with. They are 50 and they are ready for some FUN. Their homes have to reflect this spirit. A dowdy Park Avenue pre-war designed by Mario Buatta is not the answer.
Yes, the Madonna’s of the world represent an important real estate trend. No, not all 50-somethings want to re-build their entire faces or work out 2 hours a day, but there is a definite, noticeable difference in this group’s looks and aspirations when compared to just a few years ago. Older age does not equal older thinking or older looking any more, especially amongst those with the means to fight nature. Brokers take note: beware of limiting buyer profiling for a young-looking apartment: you may be surprised when Madonna shows up at the door for a viewing with a 20-something boyfriend in tow.
Monday, November 15th, 2010
 I just returned from a Real Estate Conference that addressed the future, existing technology, and new technology, and how all this will impact our lives as real estate brokers. About 500 people attended. So here I am blogging….
The most annoying aspect of this conference was the strong encouragement of that recent phenomenon called TWITTER. All of the (highly educated and successful) speakers proposed, encouraged, insisted that TWEETING was a critically important tool in becoming successful or remaining successful in the real estate industry.
My question, that I dared not ask: Who on earth would care about what I am TWEETING? Does anyone really care that I just ate breakfast, got stuck in traffic, saw a great penthouse, had a problem at a closing, noticed too much Botox and filler amongst my peers (have you noticed the Madonna-esque FAT-FACE growing in popularity?), etc, etc. Who cares? Who wants to know this useless information? How would any of this help or inform someone of something useful? And who would buy or sell very expensive real estate because of my observations and reportage?
I know I probably sound really, really old, but I don’t care. It’s official: I HATE Twitter. I HATE Facebook. They are the digital DIY versions of reality TV, and quite frankly, if I am not as interesting as Trash-tart Snooki, The Kardashian’s or Desperate Danielle Staub (and hope I never will be), I feel certain the world does not need to know the ‘real’ intimacies/tweet nothings of my New York real estate brokerage life 24/7!
And if you question my intentions as I blog this rant, at least reading this opinion is entirely voluntary. Leonard Steinberg
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Pop Diva Madonna is back in New York aggressively looking for a grand mansion to house her ever-expanding family. She has been spotted on the Upper East Side looking at some of the grandest townhouses ($30m+). Obviously she is avoiding co-ops after her humiliating Board turn-down at the San Remo at the beginning of her career when her pin-up pictures in Playboy may have been a little too upsetting (was it the nudity or the armpits?).
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Mike Albanese 
Hey Leonard, great message for all 50+ in your blog! Thanks for this spirited salute to youthful thinking combined with deep life experience. Can’t beat it–in real estate or anywhere else!