Former Real housewife of New York Kelly Bensimon, who recently joined Douglas Elliman, has landed her first big exclusive at Extell’s One Manhattan Square. The model turned TV personality and author turned real estate agent celebrated the launch of the listing with a shopping event last Wednesday evening at the building’s amenity space at 225 Cherry Street.
A portion of the proceeds from the event was given to FoodBank4NYC, which Bensimon is an ambassador for.
In other Elliman related news, celebrity broker Laurie Cooper has joined the firm.
Cooper, whose clients have included Kanye West, Robert de Niro and Oliver stone, is also known for her appearances on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York,” as Dorinda Medley’s personal broker. She has also appeared as a guest bartender on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Cooper, a 30-year industry veteran, will be joined at Elliman by her son, Michael Cooper, and Natasha Viardo, both formerly of Cooper’s boutique real estate brokerage firm, G. Laurie Cooper, Bkr.
A three-story former firehouse used by filmmaker Spike Lee’s production studio in Fort Greene for more than 20 years, closed recently for $4.7 million.
The deal, which went into contract in August, is for a former 1930s firehouse at 124 DeKalb Avenue, that sat on and off the market for the last 10 years with a handful of different brokers. They were all hired by the owner who kept the price close to $4.9 million for over a decade, believing it just needed the right buyer.
Oxford Property Group’s Lucas Smith and Sarah Jones were the ones to ultimately close the the deal with a buyer, a businessman and car collector, who Smith says, plans to use the open industrial space inside the 5,775 s/f property to house at least three cars.
Citi Habitats broker Sarah Adler repped the undisclosed seller, a local real estate developer/investor.
