Bear Stearns CEO
Renting Out House

Bear Stearns Cos. Chief Executive Alan D. Schwartz has taken off the market his suburban New York house, listed for $4.5 million, and is renting it, the real-estate agent who had listed the home says.

Meanwhile, Bear Chairman and former CEO James Cayne closed last month on a $27.4 million purchase of two adjacent apartments at the Plaza condominium in New York, according to public records.

Both moves came before Bear's fire-sale deal Sunday to be acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase. Under the terms of that deal, Mr. Cayne's Bear holdings, once valued at $1 billion, would total roughly $13.1 million, less than half the cost of the Plaza units.

In 2000, Mr. Schwartz paid $2.75 million for the newly built, 7,850-square-foot house in Purchase, N.Y. , overlooking the ninth green of the Golf Club of Purchase. The three-story home has views of Long Island Sound, six bedrooms, a playroom and a wine cellar. In 2003, Mr. Schwartz paid $10.4 million for a 17-room, 11,000-square-foot mansion on seven acres in Greenwich, Conn., records show, and he also owns a condo in Edwards, Colo. Susy Glasgall, of Houlihan Lawrence, had the Purchase listing.

A growing number of frustrated sellers in New York's suburbs are renting their homes. Greenwich agent Barbara Wells, of Prudential Connecticut Realty, says, "A tremendous amount of houses are for sale and for rent. We've never had that before."

Allman's Trucks Cuts Palm Beach Price

Allman Brothers Band drummer Claude "Butch" Trucks cut the asking price on his Palm Beach, Fla., house again this month to $4 million, down 17% from the original $4.8 million.

Mr. Trucks, a founding member of the legendary Southern rock band, first listed in August, but in November changed brokers and cut the price to $4.2 million. One block from the ocean on 0.37 acre, the Mediterranean-style house measures 4,600 square feet and has six bedrooms. There's a pool and patio.

Mr. Trucks, 60 years old, and his wife, Melinda, paid $1.325 million for the home in 1999, records show. They're selling because they plan to spend more time at a recently purchased country house in France, according to their broker, Paulette Koch, who shares the listing with her son, Dana, both of Corcoran Group. The Allman Brothers Band continues to tour.

The Unusual Sells in Manhattan

In Manhattan, a few new high-profile condo buildings with unusual designs are selling at high prices for downtown neighborhoods.

At 100 11th Ave., an irregular, glass-faceted tower designed by France's Jean Nouvel, 70% of the building's 72 original units have sold since sales began in April, according to James Lansill, of Corcoran Sunshine Group, which is marketing the condos. Mr. Nouvel, who designed Paris's Institut du Monde Arabe, put roughly 1,700 different-size windows into the tower's façade. In one costly deal, a 4,775-square-foot unit (plus more than 3,000 feet of outdoor space) is in contract for about $21 million.

Eight of the nine units at Shigeru Ban's "Metal Shutter Houses" development, which will have motorized metal shades and floor-to-ceiling windows that open like garage doors, have sold at full asking price of up to $10.25 million for a 3,320-square-foot penthouse. The Nouvel and Ban buildings are in West Chelsea.

In the NoHo neighborhood, Herzog & de Meuron's 28-unit green-glass 40 Bond building still has one original unit for sale after two years on the market, in addition to several resale listings.

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