West Villagers may be up in arms over artist Julian Schnabel’s decision to paint his West 11th Street condo project shocking pink, but Madonna may actually be a fan. Sources say the entertainer recently viewed the building’s penthouse, a triplex rumored to be priced somewhere in the $50 million range. Schnabel is said to be marketing the units himself, without a broker. No one knows if Madonna’s interested enough to buy the place, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it persuades her to make the switch from Central Park West to downtown. (Richard Gere has apparently bought an apartment in the building as well.) JC DeNiro’s Christopher Mathieson, who’s seen the apartment, says, “It’s one of the most stunning spaces that will ever be created downtown,” with double-height ceilings and 360-degree views. Besides (to paraphrase a famous observation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s), if you live in the ugliest building in your neighborhood, you don’t have to look at it.

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• Archive: “Real Estate”
• Articles by S.Jhoanna Robledo
• Table of Contents: July 23, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!