TyWarner

All those who bought Beanie Babies in the hope that they would only go up in value might enjoy a bit of schadenfreude with the news that Ty Warner, who made a fortune on selling those plush toys, is facing a cash crunch of his own. The Wall Street Journal reports that Warner is struggling to get a extension on his $345 million securitized mortgage on four of his luxury hotels because of, what else, a lack of cash flow.

The servicer overseeing the mortgage handed it off to a special servicer, Capmark Financial Group. The four hotels haven't been able to generate the $44.6 million in annual cash flow necessary to qualify for a one-year extension of the loan according to debt-rating company Realpoint LLC. The four hotels are the Four Seasons in Manhattan, The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara and Las Ventanas in Baja. Occupancy in the four hotels has declined around ten percent over the past six months.

Warner bought the hotels between 1999 and 2004 after amassing his Beanie-infused fortune. He now must struggle to reach a compromise with the special servicer to revise the mortgage and get an extension. This is something that may be in the best interest of the mortgage holder in a time when more and more hotels are facing difficulties. All the hotels remain open during the crisis. And you can still rent the Ty Warner suite, shown at right, in the New York Four Seasons for around $35,000 a night.

From the Real Estalker:
--Celebrity hairstylist Serge Normant has put his New York penthouse on West 16th Street, shown above, on the market for $4.49 million. The listing is here.
--John McCain's former home in Phoenix, Arizona will now be sold at auction on October 25. It was our estate of the day back in July.
--Teen actress Vanessa Hudgens has picked up a home in Studio City for $2.75 million. The home has six bedrooms and over 5,000 square feet.
--Rumor has it that Kimora Lee Simmons has bought herself new house in Beverly Hills.
--Will and Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick and his partner Erik Hyman have sold their Manhattan apartment for $4.1 million.
--The Harvey Mudd estate in Beverly Hills is for sale. It is our estate of the day later today.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Natali Portman has gone to contract to sell her apartment in Richard Meier's tower at 165 Charles St. The condo last had an asking price of $6.55 million.
--The price of Dunnellen Hall, Leona Helmsley's Greenwich, Connecticut home, has been lowered by $30 million to a still astounding $95 million. Check out the pictures from when it was our estate of the day back in June.
--The listing of the "Astor Suite" at the Plaza for $55 million was pulled after one day and other listings have disappeared without buyers but 26 apartments are still listed.
--The $70 million listing at the Pierre Hotel has been pulled from the Brown Harris Stevens website.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
-- Screenwriter, crime novelist and political blogger Roger L. Simon has listed his home in the Hollywood Hills for sale at $2.625 million. The listing is here.
--A Beverly Hills home built in the 1920s for Errol Flynn and now owned by composer Lee Holdridge is listed at $3.2 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Lehman Brothers Holdings' former chief financial officer, Erin Callan, is in contract to sell her two-bedroom condominium in New York's 15 Central Park West which had been listed at $12 million. Callan paid $6.48 million around three years ago.
--Ronald Tutor, chairman and chief executive of building contractor Perini Corp., paid $36.7 million for a massive, not-yet-completed house in the Beverly Park gated community which had been listed at $49 million.
--The widow of Steven T. Florio, the former CEO of Condé Nast Publications, has listed their waterfront Key Largo, Fla., vacation home on the market. We'll check this one out on Monday.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--via the Chicago Tribune, Ty Warner, founder of the Beanie Babie empire, reportedly has gone to contract to purchase the Chicago Spire's penthouse unit, which had been on the market for $40 million.
--Vivica A. Fox has her put her home in the Granada Hills area on the market for $1.45 million. Records show that the bought in 2002 for $825,500. The virtual tour is here.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Lehman's ousted president and chief operating officer Joseph M. Gregory has already his home on Park Avenue. He bought the two-bedroom apartment for $2.85 million back in 2004 and sold it earlier this month for $4.4 million. His Hamptons estate was previously our estate of the day and is on the market for $32.5 million.
--Mark Goldstein, a veteran Bear Stearns leveraged finance banker who became the co-head of its European investment banking last year has listed his apartment on Park Avenue for $12 million. He spent $5,275,000 in 2006 to buy two apartments which have now been combined. The listing is here.
--Hairstylist Guido Palau spent $1.9 million on a Chelsea brownstone duplex on West 22nd Street, according to city records
-- Democratic Party fund-raising stars Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel are in contract to sell their seventh-floor apartment at 720 Park Avenue for around $37 million, though they paid only $20 million just two years ago.
--Last week, while the Fed was agreeing to bailout A.I.G., recently retired AIG executive vice president Robert M. Sandler bought a $3.45 million apartment at the Hampshire House on Central Park South. He and his wife, Annette, paid in cash.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Interior designer Lorraine Kirke has lowered the price of her East Hampton mansion to $11.5 million, the latest stop on a slide down from $14.5 million last year. The listing is here (no interior pics).

From the Daily Mail:
--The Candy brothers want to convert the US Embassy site in Grosvenor Square into luxury flats after the American Ambassador announced it was moving to south London. These could become some of the most expensive units in the world.

From the Dallas Morning News:
--An interesting piece on Terrell Owens real estate investments. T.O. owns six townhouses and condos in the city, valued at more than $2.5 million based on tax records.

Looking to stay somewhere nice? Looking to stay somewhere really nice -- like, the nicest? Well of course "nice" is an extremely subjective term, but judging by price isn't. So if you're interested in staying in the most expensive hotel suite in the United States I'm sure you'll have an awesome and luxurious time, but you'd better be prepared to shell out (deep breath) thirty thousand dollars per night for the experience.

Now there are other hotel rooms that are valued at comparable rates (think high roller suites in Las Vegas), but what makes the price tag for the Four Seasons New York Ty Warner Penthouse stand out is that it's not available at a discounted rate or as part of an upgrade package -- it's $30,000 per night, period.

Of course the lavish design, location, and perks included with a nightly rate that could buy a small house in some neighborhoods is a long one. To get an idea, though, check out these great photos.