Historic Art Deco Bank turns into community space for Montgomery History
The building at 4 Courthouse Square will serve as the organization's headquarters, featuring exhibits, lectures, a historical library and a studio for recording oral histories. Executive Director Matt Logan called it a 'huge asset' for the community.
MoCo Minute | Grants available for small businesses along Purple Line
Renovations, including a new elevator and climate-controlled artifact storage, are expected to take about a year to complete.
The center is set to open by 2026.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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New York Post
18 hours ago
- New York Post
Bill Ackman sells Central Park-facing home he hasn't used in years for $9.43M — a nearly $4M loss
Bill Ackman has said goodbye to some of his Central Park views. The billionaire hedge funder behind Pershing Square Capital Management just sold a Central Park West dwelling in one of the city's most famous co-ops for $9.43 million, according to city records. Ackman paid $13.5 million for the park-facing three-bedroom in 2017 — a then-record for the Beresford, an Art Deco landmark. The unit entered contract this April about a month after its asking price was slashed from $11.5 million to $9.5 million. The heavily discounted deal cleaves off one half of Ackman's holdings at the building, located at 211 Central Park West. The sale was first reported by the Real Deal. 6 Bill Ackman, pictured in June. Getty Images 6 The Beresford building is a coveted address along Central Park West. Alexandre – Despite selling at a loss, Ackman told The Post he's satisfied with the deal. He said he bid high for the off-market three-bedroom in 2017 in order to live near his children. He snapped up an $8.6 million unit across the hall just one month later. Both acquisitions took place shortly after Ackman's divorce from landscape architect Karen Ackman. Ackman listed both of his eighth-floor units last November — to purchase separately or together — for a combined $19.9 million. The second unit remains on the market for $8.25 million. Ackman added it's been about seven years since he lived at the iconic address. Other high-profile buyers in the co-op, located between West 81st and West 82nd streets, have included Jerry Seinfeld, Glenn Close and Diana Ross. 6 The living room boasts a gas fireplace and gracious Central Park views. Sloane Square 6 The modern, eat-in kitchen. Sloane Square The recently sold three-bedroom unit spans roughly 3,000 square feet and features an eat-in kitchen, a gas fireplace and enviable views of Central Park. Its neighboring unit claims the same rarified views, and also enjoys 'spectacular' light from 81st Street, Ackman said. Ackman's history at the Beresford goes back to 2006, when he and his ex-wife purchased a 17th floor co-op there for $26 million. That unit was transferred to Karen Ackman for $15 million in 2018, property records show. 6 A spacious bedroom. Sloane Square 6 The Beresford, seen from Central Park in autumn. Francois Roux – Now married to designer Neri Oxman, Ackman continues to hold several trophy properties across Manhattan, including a $22.5 million, 13-bed penthouse on West 77th Street and a $91.5 million penthouse at the Central Park-facing One57 on Billionaires' Row. Corcoran's Deborah Kern and Sloane Square's Vivian Fisher repped Ackman in the Beresford deal, and continue to hold the listing for the remaining unit.


New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
How downtown Los Angeles became a boarded-up ghost-town with hoards of drug-smoking vagrants and dozens of shuttered storefronts
LOS ANGELES — Downtown in the City of Angels is looking more and more like a ghost town. The famed Los Angeles neighborhood has become a shadow of its former glory — with rows of boarded up shops, chain stores leaving in droves and hoards of drug-using vagrants sparking major safety concerns for shoppers and business owners alike. The Post can reveal that there are more than 100 vacant storefronts in the area's Historic Core, which was the rip-roaring heart of the downtown shopping and entertainment district. Advertisement 17 A homeless encampment seen in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A map of business closures in the Historic Core of LA. Donald Pearsall / NY Post Design The area's Art Deco buildings and lavish theater marquees are still there, but they now overlook busted windows, boarded-up storefronts, and throngs of homeless people smoking drugs from glass pipes in broad daylight. Advertisement Around one-third of commercial spaces sits empty, according to research firm Avison Young — a higher vacancy rate than Detroit. Even the most stalwart businesses are being driven out by crime, record-high rents and an ever-shrinking pool of Angelenos with any reason to be downtown, according to business owners. 'Many historical independent restaurants are struggling under the weight of these issues and have already closed, while those remaining are fighting to survive,' wrote the LA's oldest eatery, Cole's French Dip, when it announced its forthcoming closure. And it's not just mom-and-pop joints — chain stores have also been closing downtown locations at a disastrous clip. Macy's shuttered earlier this year as part of a massive corporate downsizing, leaving downtown without a department store for the first time in 150 years, according to LA Magazine. 17 Cole's French Dip announced its closure in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Advertisement 17 A barefoot homeless man seen walking outside of Cole's French Dip. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Retailers Vans, Theory, Paul Smith and Acne have also vacated the nabe. In 2022, Starbucks closed one of its downtown locations, citing safety concerns. Other big-name brands like the Adidas and Apple stores fell victim to looters — both during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020 and the anti-ICE protests this summer, though they continue operating. Each month, the streets of downtown get a little emptier — save for the homeless wandering into downtown from Skid Row in ever greater numbers. Advertisement 'They're coming all the way up to Spring Street now,' said one barber who works in the city's 'Historic Core.' The day before speaking to The Post, the barber, who asked not to be named, had to call the cops when a homeless man stormed into the shop and barricaded himself inside. 'Everything is different now,' he said. 'You used to have people partying in the street. Students would come in from the colleges. They'd get a haircut and go out and have fun.' 17 Homeless people sleeping in the entranceway of a shuttered storefront in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A homeless man pushing a cart outside of the Hotel Barclay. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 An abandoned storefront seen in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Before the pandemic, downtown LA was in the middle of a renaissance the likes of which it hadn't seen since the Roaring Twenties, when playboys and flappers perused the boutiques and glittering movie palaces of Broadway Street, according to historian William Deverell, author of 'Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles.' 'There was a high-water mark around 2015 to 2020. It was a period of energy and redevelopment in the Arts District, in addition to the Historic Core,' Deverell said. But COVID-19 dealt a blow that downtown is still reeling from — and not just because people stopped going out. Advertisement 17 Protesters looting and vandalizing a Starbucks in downtown LA during the BLM protests on May 29, 2020. AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa,File 17 National Guard troops protecting a boarded up business in LA on June 6, 2020. Photo byRioters smashed and looted dozens of shops and restaurants during the BLM protests, and many businesses either never reopened or went under within the year. Today, many street-level businesses leave their windows boarded up as a standard precaution. And some of the neighborhood's most famous landmarks have become the biggest eyesores — including the empty former headquarters of the Los Angeles Times and the boarded-up Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the namesake Doors album. A skyscraper sits empty: The abandoned 677-foot Oceanwide Plaza tower has become a giant playground for hooligans and vandals. Advertisement 17 The abandoned Oceanwide Plaza seen on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 Graffiti seen on the side of Oceanwide Plaza. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Down on the ground, criminals run roughshod, locals complain. Violent crime is down in the city overall, but downtown LA feels like a huge exception, said the owner of Benny Jewelry Behzad on Broadway. Advertisement 'It's been a 180-degree change here,' said Benny, adding that he's been held up at gunpoint twice in recent years. Benny said his real problem is rent, which has gone up 2-5% each year since the pandemic. 17 Burn marks seen on the windows of the Morrison Hotel in LA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A fence seen outside the abandoned LA Times headquarters. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Advertisement He isn't alone: Commercial rent in downtown reached a record high this year, with businesses shelling out almost $50 per square foot just for office space, according to Avison Young By comparison, the average office rent in downtown Manhattan in New York City is $57 per square foot, and nearly $90 per square foot in Midtown — areas that have seen a boom from post-pandemic return-to-office policies. 'Landlords need lower rents instead of just holding onto empty spaces,' said Michael Backlinder, whose coffee shop features one of the only outdoor dining spaces left on Broadway. 'Landlords need to understand they aren't sitting on a gold mine,' he said. 17 A closure message on the marquee of The Mayan seen on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A message to customers outside of The Mayan. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Yet Backlinder believes downtown remains a decent place for those who live there, thanks to a core of local watering holes, community art galleries, yoga studios and other services catering to neighborhood folk. Glen Proctor, who moved from New York with his husband after the pandemic, said they like the quieter streets — even if those streets come with graffiti and hooligans. 'Our life from New York is much more relaxed,' he said. 'It can get crazy with the unhoused around, but you get a lot more space for something you would pay a lot more for in Hollywood.' 17 A homeless person sleeping on a bench at a bus stop in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A homeless person sleeping outside of an abandoned building in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Proctor and his husband aren't alone: More Angelenos are choosing to live downtown rather than vie for space in ritzier neighborhoods. Apartment occupancy is currently around 90%, according to the DTLA Alliance, which is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Backlinder believes neighborhood is due for a comeback, but it won't get one by trying to be the next Greenwich Village. 'After the pandemic, you had corporate stuff coming in, high-end retail. High-end retail is what people buy online. We need landlords to activate the streets and invest in services for the people who live here.' But for downtown to change, the city has to invest in it — and change the faded perception of the nabe. 'Everyone thinks people are dying downtown, but that's not the case,' he said. 'People just need to talk more positively.'


New York Post
10-08-2025
- New York Post
10 Grand Central Terminal gets revamp
When an office tower's landlord has to move its own headquarters to make room for another tenant there, it likely means the building's hot. It's happening at Marx Realty's 10 Grand Central, the 450,000 square-foot Art Deco property previously known as 708 Third Ave. Marx CEO Craig Deitelzweig had the idea in 2018 to ditch the then-unfashionable avenue moniker as part of a $45 million repositioning that included moving the entrance to East 44th St. It's been a leasing juggernaut ever since. Some 27,000 square feet of new deals brought its offices to more than 95% spoken for. A rendering of The Bar Car at The Meeting Galleries at 10 Grand Central Station. Marx Realty Marx will expand from its current 9,000 square feet on the seventh floor to 11,000 square feet on the 11th floor. The move will make more room for 1-800-Flowers, which will move into Marx's old space from a smaller sublease on the 18th floor. 'I never saw before in my 24-year career so many tenants expanding or wanting to,' Deitelzweig told us. Alternative asset management platform Hayfin Capital Management will relocate from the GM Building to a similar-sized, 7,000 square-foot space on 10 Grand Central's 16th floor — which became available when Teladoc expanded to the 17th floor. A rendering of the The Meeting Galleries' The Grand Gallery at 10 GCT. Marx Realty He said companies hesitated to grow during and soon after the pandemic 'thinking hybrid work would last forever. Now, people are in their offices four or five days a week.' He said Marx has raised rents at 10 GCT four times in the past 12 months 'from $82 per square foot to $130,' and soon to $230 on two formerly mechanical floors at the top being converted to offices with 'all-glass' surroundings. A new draw is The Meeting Galleries, an 11,000 square-foot amenities complex of four different spaces to accommodate corporate meetings and events, including a 'Town Hall' lounge. Seats, murals and artworks were chosen to suggest a luxury train of the 1930s.