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Notable Neighbors

OCTOBER 6, 2011

John Legend leaves, Vince Clarke closes, Abramovic’s airy aerie is available and a studio beckons in the (maybe) Baldwin building.

Pop crooner John Legend is selling his chic, glossy two-bedroom condo in the equally sleek mini-tower at 52 East Fourth Street. The 1,359-square-foot condo—with interior work done by Architonics star Winka Dubbledam—has 13-foot ceilings and a private elevator landing. The nine-time Grammy winner paid $1.9 million for the apartment in the Robert M. Scarano Jr.-designed building and is listing it for $2.9 million (NYPost).

Big-in-the-’80s musician/songwriter Vince Clarke—founder of synth-pop hitmakers Depeche Mode, Yaz/Yazoo and Erasure—made real estate news when he put this unique circular home-slash-recording-studio on the market last year (Synthtopia). The recently-married Clarke hasn’t traded down; he recently closed on a two-bedroom DUMBO loft for $2.8 million. The 2,500 square-foot apartment in the Sweeney Building features unobstructed Manhattan and river views and an enormous roof deck (CurbedNY).

Karl Lagerfeld’s apartment at 50 Gramercy Park North is, despite rumors to the contrary, for sale. The white-ponytailed Chanel chieftan bought the 3-bedroom co-op in 2006, but no one seems to know whether he ever lived there. The asking price for the 2,151-square-foot apartment recently tumbled to $5.2 million from its original $6,500,00 ask (CurbedNY).

Alec Baldwin could have one lucky former neighbor. According to a tip to Curbed NY, a studio apartment in Devonshire House at 28 East 10th Street (the actor and Upper West Side transplant is allegedly in contract for a penthouse in the building) is on the market for $2 million. The unit’s current resident, a former rent-stabilized tenant from the building’s pre-conversion days, was able to buy the apartment for $438,750.

Art in the house: Performance artist Marina Abramovic’s lofty, white-clad pad—recently profiled in the New York Times—is on the market for $3.5 million. Abramovic purchased the 2,500 square foot one-bedroom co-op at the corner of Grand and Wooster streets for $1.5 M in 2001 (CurbedNY).