Halstead Property

Gottlieb S Downtown Buildings For Sale

Neil Bender, heir to the William Gottlieb real estate empire in Manhattan, is selling two downtown buildings, a rare break with his family's decades-old opposition to unloading property, the Wall Street Journal reported. The estate is asking $8.5 million for a 19th-century townhouse at 79 Horatio Street, the first of the two buildings being sold. The building is in poor condition and will likely be condemned and require a gut renovation, according to people familiar with the property. The second building, at 104 East 10th Street in the East Village, has an asking price of $6 million. Both buildings were listed a week ago by Halstead Property. Bender runs the estate of his uncle William Gottlieb, who started buying swaths of property in the 1950s. By the time of his death in 1999, he had accumulated more than 100 buildings in downtown Manhattan that some brokers have estimated would be valued at $1 billion. The Gottlieb family has been feuding over the rights to the property empire for years. Last month, Bender won a victory over his sister Cheryl Dier, who alleged that he was unfit to run the estate's portfolio. [WSJ]

Monday, June 07, 2010