SHELBY BRYAN DISCOVERS WHAT TRUE LOVE COSTS
HOW much would you pay to date Anna Wintour?
Since flamboyant former Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman Shelby Bryan began squiring the 51-year-old Vogue editor more than two years ago, he’s seen both his fledgling telecom empire and 17-year marriage collapse.
Now his ex, Katherine Bryan, with whom he has two children, has begun selling off the extensive properties they once shared, and sources say the tens of millions in proceeds will all go to her – and nothing to him.
This week, Katherine put her six-story townhouse on East 71st Street on the block for $14 million. Records show it was purchased by Shelby in October 1999 for $7.3 million – but sources say she’ll get whatever is paid for it this time around.
And friends of Katherine say she will soon list their mansion on exclusive Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton. She intends to ask as much as $24 million for the lavish house with rolling lawns and a huge pool.
The renovated townhouse listed this week was recently featured in House Beautiful and it comes with several bedrooms as well as servants’ quarters. It has a large south-facing landscaped garden, elevator and grand entertaining rooms.
Brucie Boalt of Sotheby’s Realty has the exclusive listing.
According to Talk magazine, Bryan began his affair while married to Katherine and angered investors – including cable TV magnate John Malone – who had anted up $3 billion to build up Bryan’s telecom, ICG Communications.
His fast-paced lifestyle and heavy personal spending reportedly had created distractions from the business that contributed to the company’s woes – but, to be fair, a slew of telecom start-ups backed by big Wall Street money have collapsed in the last 12 months.
Bryan was fired as CEO of Colorado-based ICG last August, and the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2000. The stock has plummeted from $39 a share to just pennies.
The embattled Bryan has denied any wrongdoing in the collapse of ICG. Neither he nor Katherine could be reached for comment regarding the house sales.
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Alfred Taubman, the beleaguered former chairman of Sotheby’s, finally has some good news to celebrate.
Sources say the remaining condominiums at his development at 838 Fifth Ave. are going to contract.
The 12-story former site of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations – with inspirational biblical passages etched in its limestone and full floor units – is a few months behind schedule with a stellar roster of residents waiting in the wings.
Already on board is Seagram co-chair Charles Bronfman, who paid $18 million for the duplex penthouse. Investor Michael Price shelled out a reported $13.7 million for the 10th floor, and Lillian Goldman, the widow of Sol Goldman – whose trust owns much of the usable land in the city – parted with $9 million for her third-floor lair.
Most recently, the fourth floor has just sold for less than the asking price of $10.5 million while the second floor, with a $7.5 million price tag – down from the original $9 million figure – is said to be on the brink of going in the $7 million vicinity.
Louis Dubin, Taubman’s son-in-law and CEO of the Athena Group, the building’s development company, had no comment on any of the building’s transactions.
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Evidence of a dismal rental season in the Hamptons is everywhere – all you have to do is check out the rental ads in Dan’s Papers or Hamptons Real Estate Online.
And if you do a little comparison shopping, you can save yourself a hundred thousand or so.
Take Bryan Bantry’s “Goose Creek” estate on Georgica Pond in Wainscott, for example. Allan M. Schneider Associates lists the 20,000-square-foot mansion – with a 98-seat screening room, tennis courts and separate indoor and outdoor pools – at $600,000 for the season that’s already under way.
Scan the hreo.com listing and East Hampton Village Realty has the same Bantry property – showing a different photo – listed at a mere $500,000 for the season.
In another listing, there’s an East Hampton Furthur Lane home on 8 acres with pool, pool house and private ocean access for $375,000 for the season from Cook Pony Farm.
You can have the same place from Dayton-Halstead realty for $275,000.
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