In my Manhattan Tranfers item today on gold watch guru Benny Shabtai’s townhouse at 870 Park Avenue, I tried to figure out why someone who couldn’t sell his house in 2006 for $19.9 million would try selling it now for $33 million.

The Brown Harris managing director John Burger, who isn’t involved with the listing, gave me this explanation for why Upper East Side buyers might actually like the $13.1 million difference: “A $5,000 dress in a window on Madison Avenue is much more interesting to a woman than a $1,000 dress,” he said. “It’s true.”  read more »

Philip Morris parent Altria has sold its headquarters building at 120 Park for $525 million to Global Holdings, Inc., a real estate company operated by investor Eyal Ofer.

Altria has owned the site (and subsequent building) since at least the late 1970's, according to property records. The firm announced today that it was recording a $440 million pre-tax gain on the deal.

Altria plans to move its headquarters to Richmond, Va., leaving much of the 643,000-square-foot building up for leasing once the switch is made.

Another interesting tidbit: The large building hosts just 500 employees of Altria, which occupies the building in full, according to an Altria spokeswoman. Of those, 400 will lose their jobs when the move is made.

CB Richard Ellis represented Altria for the deal.

Press release after the jump.  read more »

Democratic fundraising powerhouse Connie Milstein has a few more dollars lying around to donate to her favorite candidates. Her 5,000-square-foot, 15-room duplex at 770 Park Avenue on the 16th and 17th floors has sold for $20 million, city records show, which was exactly her asking price.

The buyers are moneyman Robert Niehaus and his wife Kate, who together endowed Princeton’s new globalization research center this year.

Only three years ago, the Post called 770 Park “the biggest Democratic presidential money pit in the city.” But Ms. Milstein is gone, and she’s been replaced by a guy who contributed $2,000 to President Bush’s last campaign. And he's already given $2,100 each to Mitt Romney and John McCain. (On the other hand, the Niehauses have both donated money to John Edwards).

But those donations may be harder to keep up now that the couple has to pay a $9,915 monthly maintenance fee for their two-tier, five-bedroom Park Avenue apartment.

Designer Vera Wang's 14-room apartment at 778 Park Avenue has gone to contract, according to the Wall Street Journal today. Ms. Wang was asking $35 million for the five-bedroom spread in the ultra-tony co-op. No word from listing brokers Deborah Grubman and Carol Cohen of the Corcoran Group on whether Ms. Wang got that price.

The federal government wants to seize the money Conrad Black made from the $8.5 million sale of his Park Avenue apartment.

According to this morning's Financial Times, the seizure would be part of a government effort to get $17 million from Mr. Black and two other executives of his Hollinger International following their fraud convictions in June.  read more »