LOCATION: MOON

Moon Estates, a real estate firm in Cornwall England is offering lunar landscapes and plots on other planets, including Mars and Venus starting at 20 GBP an acre (about 36 USD). They claim to be bringing in more than a million GBP a year with their project. According to the Daily Mail, Dennis Hope, an American, outmanuervered existing legalities to file a declaration of ownership from which the Williamses were offered the British rights of ownership to the moon. For the full story go here. Mr. Williams seems geared up for the enterprise.

VIEW FROM TRIBECA

CLOSINGS DOWNTOWN

10 Bedford 825 SF closed June $875,000 $1061 per SF West Village
275 Greenwich St 855 SF closed May $692,500 $810 per SF Tribeca
508 Broadway 1750 SF closed May $1,550,000 $886 per SF Soho
311 Greenwich St 703 SF closed May $675,000 $960 per SF Tribeca
99 Jane St 1157 SF closed May $1,825,000 $1577 per SF West Village
262 Mott St 609 SF closed May $485,000 $796 per SF Nolita
195 Hudson 2460 SF closed April $2,900,000 $1179 per SF Tribeca
2 Horatio 2373 SF closed June $3,362,500 $1417 per SF West Village
395 Broadway 1198 SF closed June $1,320,000 $1102 per SF Tribeca
395 Broadway 1200 SF closed June $1,300,000 $1083 per SF Tribeca

Credit to Property Shark for the information.
Check prices in your neighborhood here.

MOCKINGBIRD LANE

A pair of home loans, one with no money down seemed to a 40 year old woman in Colorado the perfect path to her long held dream of owing her own piece of America, a duplex with garage in Brighton, Colorado. One loan provided the purchase price and another lender supplied the remaining 20 percent for the down payment as a second mortgage at a rate at 12.75 percent. Within two years the woman lost her beloved home to foreclosure. According to Realty Trac, Colorado leads the nation in forclosures. Go here for the full story. Here's a pix of the home in question.

MANHATTAN v CROATIA

Can you work from home? Would you like to own a property situated in the lush countryside in a historical site dating back to the first half of the seventh century? Located five miles from Dubrovnik and a mile from the Adriatic Sea is a 400 year old castle looking for a new owner. She needs some renovating and modernization, but what a magificent retreat! Asking $950,000 euros, about $1.2 mil US dollars. Take a look.

Maybe, if you're lucky, $1.2 million will get you a postwar two bedroom in Manhattan, no garden. Here's a pix of Dubrovnik.

FORECLOSURE SOLUTIONS

FORECLOSURE SOLUTIONS BY "SCREECH"
The banks are trying to foreclose on the home of Screech Powers, who the kids know from the teen comedy series "Saved by the Bell" popular in the early 1990s. Screech has come up with a solution to save his beloved home with a bit of creative ingenuity. Take the jump and read more. Credit to WAOW Wausau WI.

STINKING IN DEBT?

Here's the first in a couple articles about foreclosures. Today attention to Jonathan Miller's article on his excellent blog Soapbox. "Is the US economy floating or sinking into debt?" I remember all those buyers who got the double mortgage package, the regular mortgage plus the interest only mortgage to make up for the money they didn't have for down payment, and those buyers who took interest only mortgages for the entire package. The general thought being the price will increase within five years so much that they'll be able to get a home equity mortgage for much more money or sell at a huge profit. Although this article is about the subprime market, the former must be sweating a bit also. Here's a teaser from the article.

"According to calculations published by Barron's in February, over the next two years the monthly payments on about $600 billion of mortgages taken out by borrowers in the so-called subprime market (those with checkered or nonexistent credit histories) will increase by as much as 50 percent." Read the whole story here.

TRIBECA

62 Beach Street aka The Fischer Mills Building in Tribeca. A loft closed here in May for $1,582 per square foot.

TRIBECA CLOSINGS

April & May 2006
405 Greenwich St 2204 SF closed May $2 mil $907 per sf
25 Leonard Street 2572 SF closed May $2,150,000 $836 per sf
260 W Broadway 1421 SF closed May $1,600,000 $1126 per sf
62 Beach Street 1643 SF closed May $2,600,000 $1582 per sf
79 Laight Street 2336 SF closed April $2,800,000 $1199 per sf
39 Vestry 1434 SF closed May $1,750,000 $1220 SF
31 North Moore 2948 SF closed May $4,250,000 $1442 sf
295 Greenwich St 679 SF closed April $690,000 $1016 sf
275 Greenwich St 900 SF closed April $825,000 $917 sf
303 Greenwich St 429 SF closed April $440,000 $1026 sf


Credit to Property Shark for the information. Check the prices in your neighborhood here.

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL

Admire the 1,900-piece Louis XV Swarovski crystal chandelier that once hung in the lobby of the main banking hall. It's being installed in the 15 Broad Street lobby, a bit updated technologically . Hovering inches off the floor it will have residents' faces interspersed among the crystals. Shouldn't they include a little clip of Louis in there? After all, wasn't he the inspiration?

15 BROAD

Called Downtown by Philippe Starck, the 42-story building at 15 Broad is one of the Boymelgreens New York City projects. The building's 5,000 square foot rooftop will sport a reflecting pool, lounge and dining area. The building will also house a private bowling alley and a 24 seat screening room. Hermes has signed a lease for a store on the street level. 23 Wall Street was built in 1914 and linked to 15 Broad in 1957. The building was the corporate forerunner of J. P. Morgan Chase & Company.

RAINING IN MIAMI?

June 8 2006 The Miami Herald is reporting one of the most active developers in NYC who also has extensive projects in Las Vegas, Toronto and Miami is selling another piece of their Miami holdings. Leviev Boymelgreen, a private development group, is well-known in NYC for their conversions at 15 Broad, 20 Pine, 60 Spring Street, the Riverlofts in Tribeca, plus several projects in Brooklyn and Queens. Shaya Boymelgreen and Lev Leviev partnered up several years ago to develop some of the most coveted buildings in Manhattan. Jump here (type boymelgreen in the search line) and read Matthew Haggman's full story on the sale.