Andre Balazs Sells SoHo Set-up

SELLER: Andre Balazs
LOCATION: 158 Mercer Street, SoHo, NYC
PRICE: $10,000,000 (maintenance and tax $5,477 per month)
SIZE: 3,882 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths
DESCRIPTION: (shortened from the listing agent's website) ...private floor loft in one of the only full service condo buildings in the neighborhood...High ceilings, historic columns and a wood burning fireplace...a 50' wide span of windows (in the living room).

NOTE: the Real Estalker posted this apartment back in early December, but we did not do a good job commenting, nor did we include the floor plan, so we're going to give it another go.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: We love Mr. B's hotels: the Raleigh in South Beach, the Chateau Marmont in LA, the Mercer in NYC, and Sunset Beach on Shelter Island. But we're a little mixed about the apartment houses in NYC: the glass boxes of 40 Mercer and the unfortunately named William Beaver House way downtown. None-the-less Mr. Balazs hs style coming out his pores as you can see in the photos of his personal residence (although it is unclear to Your Mama whether the Mister is still occupying this apartment.)

Your Mama is just not so keen on SoHo anymore. Have any of your children been there lately? Sure, there are loads of lovely cast iron buildings, cobble stone streets, and some cute shoppy-shops. But there is also a Bloomingdales and a Sephora. Not to mention Old Navy and Pottery Barn. Listen, Your Mama does not pine for the days when SoHo was a wasteland of artist lofts and homeless people, but this suburban mall environment just does not sit well with us.

So while we are loving the design and decor of Mr. Andre Balazs' downtown pad, we're just not onboard with the location. We prefer to walk our bitches Linda and Beverly in a less middle-brow commercial zone where there are fewer tourists from Iowa who think there "on the edge" because they're shopping in SoHo. Please.

Anyhoo, the apartment was clearly designed for Mr. Balasz when he had a wife and family. Mr. B's ex-wife is Katie Ford of Ford Models. and they have a couple of girl chill-rins. Back in the day, when Your Mama was making an effort to slim down, Ms. Ford and I used to share a trainer at the now defunct David Barton gym in SoHo.

Here's what Your Mama is digging...the fireplace and bookshelves...we like the juxtaposition in textures here. We'd probably go with a larger and more down-filled sofa, but we got no real beef with the aged leather thing Mr. B's decorator chose.

We are also drawn to that platform sitting area. This looks like the perfect location to lay back pasha style and let your assistant serve you a lunch of hummus and babaganoush. Right?

The his and her (his/his, her/her, whatever) closets in the master bedroom are no doubt quite useful, but we're not sure about the climbing plant in the bathroom. Your Mama's mama used to drink in bars decorated like this in the early 1980s so that might be contributing to our negative perspective a little.

What do the children think?