Owners of apartments at the Atelier condominium on West 42nd Street have filed a $100 million lawsuit against Joseph Moinian’s Moinian Group, the developer of the property, alleging the company is illegally preventing them from accessing the building’s amenities. Moinian, however calls the claims "meritless."

The board of managers at the condo, at 635 West 42nd Street, claims Moinian, who hung on to ownership of the building’s common spaces after selling the sponsor units, has permanently blocked the residents' access to the building's pool and fitness center. Instead, direct access to the amenities is being reserved for residents of the developer's new high-end rental building next door, dubbed Sky, the board alleges.

Meanwhile, the gym, which will be taken over by third-party operator Life Fitness, will also be open to non-residents for the first time, the suit states.

A representative for the board at the Atelier, which is headed by real estate broker Daniel Neiditch, declined to comment on the litigation, saying the lawsuit "speaks for itself."

A spokesperson for Moinian called the suit "utterly without merit" and said the plaintiff has "a history of filing baseless lawsuits."

"Key elements are demonstrably false and are entirely inconsistent with the condominium’s offering documents," the spokesperson said. "The gym will serve as a highly desirable public amenity and memberships will be available to the public at large and residents at both buildings."

The entrance to the gym from the Atelier has allegedly been boarded up and lockers have been installed against the doors, permanently blockading the entrance, according to the suit.

Blocking access to the gym represents a direct breach of contract and is in violation of the building’s original offering plan, which dates back nine years, the board claims in the lawsuit. The offering plan also prescribed that residents of the Atelier would have reciprocal access to amenities at Sky, which has also not been delivered, the board said.

The Atelier’s condo owners are now seeking an injunction to prevent the blocking of direct access to the gym and pool and to open access to amenities at Sky, located at 605 West 42nd Street.

"The amenity package that unit owners paid for as part of their unit contracts is part of a lifestyle they sought out and contracted for," the legal complaint reads. "As such, its deprivation cannot be adequately measured or safely compensated with money damages."

The Atelier was built in 2007 and has a total of 478 condo units. An $85 million apartment currently on the market at the property reportedly comes with a $1 million yacht, two Rolls Royce Phantoms and $2 million in credits to renovate the unit.

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NOW WATCH: The median sale price of a Manhattan apartment is now $1.15 million

The Pierre, a legendary hotel in New York, is home to one of the city's most dubious distinctions.

The entire 39th floor of the 41-floor hotel overlooking Central Park is being offered as a rental for $500,000 a month, making it the city's priciest rental listing.

As part of the Pierre Hotel Residences program, interested tenants can sign a lease for as little as 30 days or for as long as they need.

The six-bedroom residence was last offered in November 2014, the beginning of the program.

Renters have the option to make their monthly payments by credit card if they choose.

The best part of living in this swanky hotel may be the many luxury services The Pierre offers. Residents are given complete access to the butler service, pet pampering, twice-daily maid service, and the hotel’s chauffeur-driven Jaguar

The listing is being handled by Andres Perea-Garzon of Compass.

Asta Thrastardottir contributed to an earlier version of this report.

SEE ALSO: Go inside the most expensive home in San Francisco, on the market for $28 million

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Welcome to the legendary Pierre Hotel, located on New York's Upper East Side. Former permanent residents of The Pierre include Elizabeth Taylor and Yves Saint-Laurent.

Photos by Donna Dotan Photography

The rental offers all of the services of a luxury five-star hotel, including a 24/7 concierge service.

Photos by Donna Dotan Photography

The property consists of the hotel's two-bedroom Presidential Suite and several other hotel rooms.

Photos by Donna Dotan Photography

With cities like San Francisco, San Jose, California, and Seattle at the top of the U.S. News Best Places to Live rankings, it’s no secret that metro areas steeped in tech jobs have a flourishing workforce and an exceptional quality of life.

But have you considered lesser-known tech hubs like Des Moines, Iowa, or Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina? These cities, which offer many of the same advantages, but with a lower cost of living, are gaining ground in the tech industry.

While markets like San Francisco and San Jose become even more unaffordable for businesses and employees with metro area median home sale price at $646,250 and $777,600, respectively, according to Zillow (12-month average), unassuming metro regions are expanding their tech footprints, says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at realtor.com.

Smoke points to Austin, Texas, which occupies the No. 2 spot on the U.S. News Best Places to Live rankings ;and has a median home sale price of $240,000 for its metro area, according to the Austin Board of Realtors (12-month average), as another important city for technology development in recent years.

The Austin metro area has a higher density of startups per 100,000 people than Silicon Valley, according to a 2015 study by the Austin Technology Council and Austin Chamber of Commerce.

“It quickly became an alternative to the increasingly expensive Silicon Valley,” Smoke says. “Historically, Austin did have a technology connection with companies like Texas Instruments and 3M, but I think what really put Austin on the map was Dell being located there." With Dell's headquarters in Austin, companies that traditionally stuck to the West Coast, such as chip processors and Apple, turned their attention to Austin for additional office locations.

Smoke also says cities such as Denver, the top-ranked Best Place to Live, and Raleigh-Durham (No. 4), are good examples of areas that have been able to gain ground in the tech industry through startups and new locations for existing companies such as Google and Facebook. The Denver area has a median home sale price of $301,300, and Raleigh-Durham has median home sale price of $215,730, according to Zillow (12-month average).

SEE ALSO: Here's the salary you have to earn to buy a home in 19 major US cities

Technology sprawl

Technology advances mean the country is more connected than ever, so there’s no longer a need for a company's headquarters, its employees and its investors to be concentrated in one area. This means entrepreneurs looking to launch new startups can enjoy a lower cost of living – including housing costs and utility rates – without sacrificing opportunities.

In Minneapolis (metro area median home price: $218,250 per Zillow, 12-month average), which takes the No. 12 spot on the Best Places to Live rankings, Don Ball and Kyle Coolbroth co-founded COCO, a workspace firm that provides space for startups to work, meet and collaborate as they develop their businesses.

“It wasn’t like the startup scene formed and then we entered and saw the opportunity," Coolbroth says. "We simply knew this was the direction the world was headed and that there would be a new place for people to gather, to meet and to socialize."

The existence of COCO and similar organizations throughout the country is good news for techies and entrepreneurs, who are finding resources in an increasing number of smaller cities to succeed and grow their businesses.

COCO’s primary Minneapolis location is located on the former trading floor of the city’s grain exchange, which connects the history of the city to the industry now laying solid roots in the region. “It was the first time people could go into a majestic space and see the new economy happening before their very eyes,” Ball says.

Ben Milne, CEO of digital payment network Dwolla, started his company in No. 11-ranked Des Moines (metro area median home price: $169,550 per Zillow, 12-month average) a few years ago after searching for the right city that had the partnerships he needed as well as interested investors. Despite being from Iowa originally, Milne explains, “I absolutely never thought Des Moines would be the right place.”

Investors reach further

Since its start, Dwolla has gained more investors – including some from New York – and opened a second office in San Francisco. “We’ve tried to work at building a talent pipeline from East to West Coast, and Des Moines is still right in the middle of that pipeline. … There are really talented people in every geography,” Milne says.

With growing cross-country representation in the tech world, investors have responded in kind. Major investors based in cities such as New York and San Francisco may have previously been hesitant to back a company outside of their area because of a lack of connection, but that's no longer the case, as with Dwolla.

Coolbroth notes COCO has seen similar interest from investors outside of Minneapolis for the startups that are members of the organization. “With the tech hubs that are starting to gather in these markets and the emerging markets, I think that that is changing the investors’ mindset about where they’re willing to invest,” he says.

Market growth

As these budding tech hubs build even stronger tech industries, it’s not to say Silicon Valley is going anywhere – it’s simply sharing the wealth.

Smoke points out that after the housing market crash in 2007, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle bounced back fairly quickly, as did Austin and Denver. “Their home values are now fully recovered," Smoke says, explaining that on every level their housing markets have returned to pre-recession levels, and keep climbing. "They're now in a territory that you can say prices are at record highs in those markets."

In addition, the labor force that can’t afford or doesn't want to live in Silicon Valley is accessible in these other cities, particularly those with sizable college populations. Smoke points out many of the rising tech hubs – including Austin, Denver, Raleigh-Durham and Des Moines – have major universities with graduates freshly educated in engineering, software design and other areas in demand in the tech industry.

“The markets that are connected to universities are places that produce more of this environment that is attractive to businesses – not only potentially the entrepreneurs that come out of the universities,” Smoke says.

What does it mean for those looking to launch a startup or join a tech company? The options are numerous, and while seven years ago only a few cities had recovering job markets, the industry that raced to fill the job void is now all over the country.

While these emerging tech hubs may never reach the level of Silicon Valley, they’re well-connected to major cities, and the idea that less-populated parts of the country are lagging in technology may soon be disappearing.

“It’s easy to talk about places like Des Moines as flyover country, but when you get down to it, there’s just a lot of really good, really smart people who have a lifestyle that they’re used to and they like,” Milne says. “And maybe that’s different from what’s in San Francisco. It doesn’t mean it’s better or worse, it’s just different. But when both of those offices come to work, they contribute to the same thing.”

Read the original article on U.S. News & World Report. Copyright 2016. Follow U.S. News & World Report on Twitter.

Real estate buyers from countries such as China, Russia, Canada and Brazil have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into New York real estate over the last few years, but evidence is mounting that that flow is slowing down. Foreign demand for U.S. properties is set to diminish, under pressure from high prices and a strong dollar, according to the National Association of Realtors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Prices for high-end properties have risen steadily since around 2012 when the real estate market hit bottom, recently rising to record highs, partly fueled by the influx of foreign investment.

The strong dollar has made properties in cities such as New York, Miami and Los Angeles, where foreign buying has been concentrated, significantly more expensive. Median prices for existing homes in the U.S. have risen by 67 percent for Brazilian buyers over the past year, for example, the Journal reported, citing NAR. Prices have climbed 27 percent for Canadian buyers — and 14 percent for Chinese buyers.

Chinese demand is likely to diminish less severely than other countries’, NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun told the Journal, because while Chinese economic growth has slowed over the last year or two, the country’s GDP is nonetheless expanding at about 6 percent a year.

NAR determines the level of foreign demand by surveying real estate brokers across the country. The results of this year’s survey will be released in early summer. [WSJ]

SEE ALSO: The 'Asian tigers' aren't what they used to be

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While there's an argument to be had over the relative quality of Target or Walmart as a retailer, there is one big-box store that is much better for your real-estate investments.

According to data from RealtyTrac, not only does living near a Target instead of a Walmart mean your house is probably more valuable, but it also means its value is most likely going up much faster.

"Among homeowners who sold in 2015, those near a Target saw an average 27% increase in home price since they purchased their home, which equates to an average price gain of $65,569, compared to 16% appreciation and an average price gain of $24,900 for homeowners near a Walmart,"the report from RealtyTrac said.

The average value gain nationwide is 22%, according to the release.

Not only do the homes appreciate more in areas around Targets, but they are worth more than the average home as well.

"Homes near a Target also have a higher value on average: $307,286, 72% more than the $178,249 average value for homes near a Walmart," according to the report. "The average value of homes was $215,921 across all ZIP codes nationwide."

Homeowners near Walmarts, however, paid less than half the amount of property taxes: $3,146 on average versus $7,001 for homeowners near Targets.

There could be any number of confounding variables here. For example, the companies may have selected certain locations precisely because of certain types of homeowners live there. But the correlation is still interesting.

RealtyTrac also compiled an infographic visualizing all these interesting facts; check it out below.

Update: A spokesperson from Walmart provided Business Insider with the following comment regarding the ReatyTrac study:

"Not only are we serving customers with our stores, we’re positively impacting the communities our stores are located in, whether it’s increased property value or increased sales tax revenue. In addition to this RealtyTrac study, a 2012 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that homes located within a half mile of a Walmart showed an increase in property value compared to homes that were not."

SEE ALSO: Being within a mile of Whole Foods or Trader Joe's will make your house more valuable

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News anchor darling Katie Couric and her husband of nearly two years, financier John Molner, have purchased a lavish Upper East Side condo for $12,168,087, according to city records released today.

The five-bedroom, full-floor spread is located at 151 East 78th Street, a recently completed building by Peter Pennoyer Architects that has only 14 residences spread across its 16 floors. Couric’s new 3,966-square-foot digs are classically elegant, as the architect took a modern interpretation of the Rosario Candela-designed residences on Park and Fifth Avenues. The home begins in a private entry gallery and then opens to the entertaining and bedroom wings.

[Listing: 151 East 78th Street, #10 by Cathy Taub and Alexa Lambert of Stribling]

SEE ALSO: British tech entrepreneur selling his New York City townhouse for $26 million

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The living and dining rooms have full-length French windows, chevron-pattern oak flooring, and handcrafted pocket doors.

Peter Pennoyer collaborated with Smallbone of Devizes on the kitchens, which offer coffered ceilings, hand-painted white oak cabinetry, and specially outfitted spice, cutlery, utensil and pot drawers. There’s a walk-in pantry and seating at both the island and kitchen table.

As one of the top residential real-estate agents in the US, Aaron Kirman of John Aaroe Group has worked with his share of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

He counts CEOs, celebrities, and royal families from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait among his clients, and he closes $300 million to $400 million in home sales a year.

He also recently reached another big milestone: $3 billion in home sales.

Kirman, who is based in Los Angeles, has made his career by understanding and catering to the needs of the wealthy people he works with.

"You really have to connect with your clients," he told Business Insider. "Everyone is looking for something different. The majority of people look at the site, its views, its privacy and scale, or whether it's gated."

Wine rooms, ballrooms, prayer rooms, panic rooms, and decked-out "wellness centers" are among the most requested amenities.

"In LA, we're not just selling houses," he said. "We're selling the lifestyle, everything from the furniture to the art, to memberships to private clubs."

But there's one thing that Kirman says is an especially big concern among wealthy buyers.

"Really rich people want their privacy. It's a huge issue," Kirman said. "They don't want people to know what they're buying, for multiple reasons."

The practice of using LLCs to hide a buyer's identity is fairly common, and it is legal. In January, the Treasury Department announced that it would begin tracking the masked buyers of high-end properties in New York City and Miami-Dade County. The new initiative will require real-estate companies to reveal the names of people who purchase properties behind shell companies, often in all-cash transactions.

In an investigation conducted by The New York Times last year, it was revealed that nearly half of homes sold for more than $5 million across the country were purchased by shell companies.

Kirman says most of his sales have happened with the signing of a nondisclosure agreement. Still, he says it may take some time for the Treasury Department's new policies to make their way out west to Los Angeles.

"It's too soon to tell what will happen," he said. "What the government knows and what the public knows may be two different things. There has been some movement in LA since that policy was announced. Uber-wealthy clients who wanted to buy in New York may now be looking here instead. It has helped my business."

One of Kirman's current listings is the $135 million Danny Thomas estate in Beverly Hills. The 18,000-square-foot mansion has a gold-leaf ceiling and sits on a prime piece of property in the swanky neighborhood of Trousdale Estates.

If sold at the asking price, it would be the most expensive home ever sold in Beverly Hills, beating Minecraft creator Markus Persson's $70 million purchase.

"There's no science to pricing houses," Kirman said. "We have to go with our knowledge. This house sits on one of very few promontories in Los Angeles. In this neighborhood, you just can't find that."

SEE ALSO: New York City's most expensive condo now comes with 2 Rolls-Royce Phantoms, a Hamptons summer rental, and a $1 million yacht

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The Stone Mansion, a 30,000-square-foot property located on the former Frick Estate of New Jersey’s historic Alpine community, is back on the market for $48.8 million.

As New Jersey’s most expensive home, it features 12 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, and features like an indoor basketball court and a 4,000-bottle wine cellar.

Compass is marketing the home in conjunction with listing agent Sotheby's Prominent Properties, with celebrity home stager Meredith Baer being brought in to style several rooms in the property. 

Baer, whose A-list clients include the likes of Julia Roberts and Christina Aguilera, is known for her ability to beautifully transform spaces.

Below, you'll find the staging photos of the stunning home, which is currently owned by chief executive of Kamson Corporation, Richard Kurtz. 

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The 30,000-square-foot mansion spans six acres of land in Alpine, New Jersey. Located eight miles from New York City, the property includes a main house complex and an attached carriage house.

Each of the stones in the home’s exterior was placed there by hand, while its interior includes more than $2 million worth of light fixtures and sconces.

Many of the vaulted ceilings are lined with pure gold trimmings, and the master suite comes complete with his and her spa bathrooms and his and her closets.

Donald Trump, notorious for his self-proclaimed business acumen, does not skimp on his handouts to the help. In fact, he sometimes passes out $100 bills.

The Republican presidential frontrunner and real estate mogul has been known to give Franklins to the "appreciative" groundskeepers on his property in Palm Beach, reports the New York Times.

"You’re a Hispanic and you’re in here trimming the trees and everything, and a guy walks up and hands you a hundred dollars,” Trump's long-time butler Anthony Senecal told the Times. “And they love him, not for that, they just love him.”

Trump's various quirks are recounted in the Times story by Senecal, who has worked for Trump for nearly 30 years at the historic property, called Mar-a-Lago. Now 74, Senecal once tried to retire from his role in 1999, only for his attempt to be rebuffed by his boss.

“Tony, to retire is to expire,” Trump responded to him. “I’ll see you next season.”

Senecal shares that Trump hates to swim, love a well-done steak, and does his own hair while staying at the Palm Beach mansion and resort.

Trump bought the Mar-a-Lago property in 1985 for less than $10 million, after which he converted the 1924 estate into a private club. It has been the site of celebrity events — Trump's own wedding included — aside from being Trump's personal escape and family home.

Recently, he's mentioned it as an example of his pro-equality stance, saying on ABC's "Good Morning America" that the club is "Totally open to everybody. A club that frankly set a new standard — a new standard in clubs and a new standard in Palm Beach. And I've gotten great credit for it. That is totally open to everybody."

SEE ALSO: 15 expensive steakhouses that are actually worth the price

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NOW WATCH: 'Donald Trump is literally inciting violence': Watch Sanders and Clinton blast Trump for the violence at his rallies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The market for luxury homes in the Hamptons, the summer playground for Wall Street's wealthiest, is losing some of its luster as financial markets limp along for a second year.

The average price of the 10 most expensive homes sold in this cluster of towns, villages and hamlets on Long Island's east end was $35.5 million in 2015, 20 percent lower than the $44.6 million recorded the year before, according to real estate brokers Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton.

That is far from calamitous given it is the second-highest average top 10 price ever and up from just $15.9 million in 2009, the year the market bottomed during the financial crisis.

But for Judi Desiderio, who has been active in Hamptons real estate for three decades and is now Town & Country's chief executive, it is still a meaningful decline.

Her maxim is that record sales prices are only shattered following outstanding years for U.S. stocks and that the Hamptons real estate market goes in cycles in lockstep with Wall Street's fortunes. Excluding dividends, the S&P 500 benchmark stocks index lost 0.7 percent last year and is down about 1 percent so far this year.

The top 10 numbers may be skewed by one or two of the highest priced sales but the softness is also reflected in a wider survey by brokerage Corcoran Group that shows the median price for the most expensive 10 percent of Hamptons sales (57 homes), declined about 4 percent to $7.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 from a year earlier.

Desiderio said the next boom may not happen for some years. "We won't see this again until 2021 as it seems to run in seven-year cycles," she predicted.

Wall Street's performance and luxury home prices in the Hamptons are inextricably linked, especially the level of bankers' bonuses as they often finance second homes, said Anthony DeVivio, managing director in the Hamptons for another brokerage, Halstead Property.

The average bonus from a Wall Street bank was likely 5 percent to 10 percent lower in 2015 than the previous year, the first decline since 2011, said Alan Johnson of compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates Inc.

Hedge funds also have struggled, with an average return of just 0.04 percent last year, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index. In 2014, it wasn’t much better – with a 2.88 percent gain.

Mega deal

Still, real estate brokers see the weakness in the Hamptons as a modest correction rather than something much worse.

"It's not something that's going to kill the market," said DeVivio.

It certainly didn't prevent hedge fund manager Scott Bommer from being able to ink a deal to sell his ocean-front property at Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton for $110 million, the New York Post reported last month, one of the few times the sale of a home has topped $100 million in the United States.

Bommer, who shut his SAB Capital in late December, bought the property – which is a combination of three addresses - for $93.9 million in 2014. The Post identified the buyer as Michael S. Smith, chief executive of natural gas company Freeport LNG.

The 6.2-acre estate includes a century-old five-bedroom home on a back lot. The ocean-front lot has an 8,000-square-foot stucco mansion with seven bedrooms, and eight full bathrooms, along with a swimming pool, said broker Ed Petrie of Compass, who declined further comment because of a confidentiality agreement.

"It's the best of the best, and people are going to pay a premium for the best of the best," said Susan Breitenbach, a top broker in the Hamptons who notched $333 million in sales last year for the Corcoran Group.

In 2014, billionaire investor Barry Rosenstein of Jana Partners paid $147 million for ocean-front property in East Hampton, a record for U.S. residential sales. The prices of luxury homes surged that year after U.S. stocks soared 30 percent the year before.

While the luxury end of the market may be softening, the overall market in the area remains solid.

When all fourth-quarter sales are included, the median sales price rose 3 percent to $1.12 million from a year earlier, according to Corcoran's figures.

The brokers say the market for homes listed under $5 million is poised for higher prices, with steady or better sales volume as demand appears robust and the supply of homes for sale is low.

Traditionally the high level of wealth among the buyers of homes in these beach communities makes it somewhat protected from market gyrations, though not fully.

"There are two markets right now," said DeVivio. "On the low end it's clearly still a seller's market, and on the high end it's clearly a buyer's market."

Ernest Cervi, regional senior vice president at Corcoran in Bridgehampton, said the median sale price was up every quarter last year while the inventory of homes for sale was in decline.

"Our inventory has been decreasing since 2011, so I think the market is in a good place right now," Cervi said.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Additional reporting by Lawrence Delevingne in New York; Editing by Martin Howell)

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After five years of renting in Manhattan, I bought my first home.

It's a one-bedroom co-op apartment in a New York City suburb, about 30 minutes away from Penn Station by train.

Buying your first home is a major milestone! It's a huge amount of money and a major commitment. Countless people name their savings account "My first home" for years on end, looking to the future when that clogged sink is a sink they own. You're supposed to be excited and exhilarated ... right?

When I first started looking at options, starring listings on Trulia and scheduling full days to tour the neighborhood with realtors, I thought I'd have a constant hum of electricity under my skin, an undercurrent of excitement about the apartment that would eventually be mine. The days would be invariably sunny, the rose-colored glasses welded on.

Well, here's the thing. When I did finally make an offer, that apartment wasn't mine for another four months — admittedly, longer than a typical purchase.

Four months out of your entire life isn't that much time. And I was lucky enough to have my first offer on my first home accepted, which I recognize is an unusual privilege. 

But you try staying excited for four months.

I expected the process to be expensive and exciting. In reality, it was expensive ... and mundane.

When you buy a home, you don't hand over your hard-earned cash, waltz into a new place, and trigger a look-at-my-perfect-life montage like you see in the movies.

In actuality, buying a home is a checklist of tasks that exist in the background of the life you have now. Today, you go to work and make sure to call the mortgage company about that loan commitment. Tomorrow, you go to the gym and sign the form to allow a(nother) credit inquiry. The next day, you shop for groceries and realize you forgot to get an employment verification letter from your last job. (Darn it!)

By the time you're sitting at the closing for which you had to leave the office early, signing every paper that crosses the table and trying to keep up a smile for an hour and a half, you've been doing this for a while.

I did have my moments of pre-homeowner joy, fantasizing about having a car after years in Manhattan and flagging full-sized couches that would actually fit in my new living room. Things to hang on the walls with nails? Yes, please! My friends and I discussed the joys of the wide aisles in suburban grocery stores (you should see the place across the street) and I looked forward to having a balcony so I'd know if it was actively raining before descending 10 floors to the street.

But I'd thought that excitement would be more sustainable, not so easily weathered by the tedium of getting copies of the keys and watching your wordly belongings expand as you pack them in overstuffed boxes for the move.

That's life though, right? Your new job is invigorating until it's routine. Your new gym is cool until it's standard. Your vacation is thrilling until you come home. Just because it isn't completely wonderful every minute doesn't mean it isn't worth doing (see: exercise).

Now, post-packing, post-paperwork, and post-move, I own a home. 

And when you think about it that way, it's pretty exciting.

SEE ALSO: I just bought my first home, and here's the single best piece of advice I can give you

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George Lucas, for all his fame and fortune, can't seem to stick the landing.

Since 2012, the filmmaker has looked for a home for his proposed Museum of Narrative Art, which would house Lucas' personal collection of digital and traditional works.

When he proposed the plan to Chicago, it should've been a slam-dunk: Mayor Rahm Emanuel had his back, and it'd replace what is now a parking lot with a major tourist attraction.

But after the city won the bid in 2014, Lucas and city officials became embroiled in a (somewhat) epic battle with preservationists who want to block the museum's construction.

One of the hottest flashpoints is the design: The 300,000 square foot building looks like it was imported straight from the heart of the Galactic Empire.

The museum's undulating shape, Hoth-white walls, and halo-shaped observation deck have earned both praise and criticism from locals passionate about Chicago's famed lakeshore and surrounding parks.

Right now, the museum is caught in a legal limbo – but Emanuel's administration is hoping Lucas' spacious and space-age concept will soon be allowed to touch down.

Here's what the museum would look like and why it's so controversial.

The futuristic structure, slated to occupy 17 acres of public land, was a little too much for local design buffs.

Critics called it everything from "Jabba the Hutt's palace" to an "ugly upside-down snow cone."

Source: The Guardian

Others bemoaned how the smooth, avant-garde structure would impact Chicago's iconic blocky skyline.

Luxury New York City real estate is renowned for its top-of-the-line appliances, breathtaking views, and coveted outdoor space. To help a property stand out in this niche high end market, professional stager Cheryl Eisen and her team at Interior Marketing Group use some proven tricks of the trade to transform a space from yet another multi-million dollar apartment into a potential home.

Eisen took Business Insider on a tour of a $27.3 million apartment at desired Manhattan building One57 her team staged to point out some crucial ways to sell a property faster and for more money.

Produced by Justin Gmoser and Arielle Berger

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How much space can $1 million buy you in a major city? In some places, not much more than a closet. Here's how some of the world's priciest cities compare. 

Produced by Alex Kuzoian

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The night before my co-op board interview this winter, I had nightmares.

I don't remember them anymore, just that there was fire and a co-op board and a general feeling of hatred — theirs, not mine.

I was trying to buy a one-bedroom co-op apartment in a New York City suburb, about 30 minutes away from Penn Station by train.

(Spoiler alert: I got it.)

The board had been a looming presence since the first time I looked at the place. Unlike a condo or a house, when you buy a co-op, what you're actually buying is not only the privilege of sharing walls with your neighbors, but also shares in the building, complete with stock certificate.

For that reason — well, probably also because of said shared walls — a board of "shareholders" has to meet with, interview, and approve every potential applicant.

So the process goes, ideally and in broad strokes:

• Make offer / have offer accepted by seller

• Get bank approval and commitment for mortgage, if applicable

• Sign mutually agreed-upon contract

• Get approval from co-op board

If the co-op board doesn't approve you, so much for your offer, your mortgage commitment, and your contract. It's over.

Here's the best advice I can give you, courtesy of my real estate attorney father, relayed via email the night before I made the frigid trek to the suburbs after work. "You'll be fine. These people all want to go home and watch television like the rest of us."

Duh, right? Let me explain why this was so helpful.

Overall, the buying process went smoothly. I made an offer and the buyer accepted within two days. "Don't get too excited," my mother cautioned me. "It's not yours until the co-op board approves you." This was the guiding principle of the next few months, as we bickered with the seller's lawyer over tedium, like whether I was guaranteed a parking space in the building lot or not and while we filled out every paper ever produced.

So by the time the board interview came, over three months after my initial offer was accepted by the seller, all of my nerves were on edge. I had arranged to leave my rented apartment, and my landlord had someone moving in days after I left. I needed to know whether I'd have anywhere to go.

I did what anyone would do: I Googled. "How to prepare for a co-op board interview.""What to do at a co-op board interview." Ok, fine: "Co-op board interview."

Here's the gist of what I found: Look nice. Arrive on time. Be friendly but not chatty. Answer only the questions you're asked, and don't volunteer any information about anything, lest they have a reason to ask you more questions. Don't try to be funny. And don't get offended and flounce off, no matter what.

Is it just me, or is most of that just common sense? Ultimately, it boils down to the anti-job interview: Instead of giving them reasons to "hire" you, just keep from giving them reasons not to.

I asked my realtor for advice, and she sent me an article I'd already read. I memorized answers to common board questions listed online ("Would you be interested in serving on the board?""I've never done it before, but if the building needed me I'd be happy to help out!" [Smile]). I carefully laid out a "business casual" outfit. I took screenshots of the train schedule on the night of my interview, lest I be late. I asked the management company for a contact phone number, just in case something happened and my screenshots were wrong and I was out on the street in the cold while they cursed my name ("Sorry, we can't provide numbers of board members").

By this time, the board was a huge presence in my mind, one that had loomed over every step of the process. Don't tell them if you plan on making renovations! Don't mention whether a significant other will live there — or if you have a significant other! Don't say anything about anything unless you're directly asked, and then say as little as possible!

So, my dad's advice was a breath of fresh air. These people all want to go home and watch television like the rest of us. It was 7 p.m. on a dark, cold weeknight in February. As much as I didn't want to schlep out there, they probably didn't want to gather in the super's office and ask a stranger about the balance of her retirement accounts.

I was the second person there. I didn't get stranded outside. I accidentally made small talk about the weather while we were waiting for the rest of the group arrived and then mentally chastised myself as I forgot all of their names. I was able to offer my copy of the materials to someone who was missing a page. I told a group of strangers about my salary and work history, and that yes, I was fully confident I could make my monthly payments. I eyed the five separate copies of my financial and personal information in their laps that might as well be called the EZ-identity-theft packets.

And you know what? They were very nice. I was fine. Less than half an hour later, we all went home to watch TV. 

The next day, I got an email: I was approved.

SEE ALSO: I just bought my first home, and here's the single best piece of advice I can give you

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It's a buyer's market for luxury penthouses these days.

Consider this downtown Manhattan apartment — listed in 2015 for $70 million, and now slashed down to $55 million, The Real Deal reports. That's a cut of over 20%.

The apartment is Walker Tower's Penthouse One, located at 212 West 18th Street in Chelsea and currently owned by hospitality mogul Neil Moffitt, CEO of Hakkasan Group. When he bought the penthouse in 2014 for $50.9 million, it was the most expensive downtown Manhattan sale in history. 

Click through to see inside the five-bedroom penthouse — with skyline views that just might be worth the price.

Brittany Fowler wrote an earlier version of this article.

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Moffitt bought the penthouse in early 2014 for $50.9 million. It only took him five minutes to decide he wanted the place.

Kamali Chandler of Sotheby's International Realty has the 5,955-square-foot, 24th-floor listing and describes it as "the crown jewel of Chelsea's most important address."

The apartment has a total of eight rooms: five bedrooms, a laundry room, living room, and dining room.

Billionaire entertainment mogul David Geffen is being sued by his neighbors in the building housing his two-story $54 million penthouse on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, according to the New York Daily News.

Howard and Gloria Schwartz have filed a suit that alleges the billionaire's renovations to the unit — which he bought in 2012 from singer and socialite Denise Rich — have caused "ear-splitting" noise.

Additionally, vibrations from the construction have allegedly caused damage to their apartment, the suit claims.

The physical damages to their living space named in the suit allegedly includes: designer wallpaper peeling off their walls, marble floor tiles cracking and shifting, and a mysterious black soot drifting out from the floors and walls, which they all blame on the contractors.

The Schwartz's are also claiming the work has caused high blood pressure and other cardiac issues, and are demanding $2 million in damages. 

In the co-op building, 17 others have submitted claims against Geffen. Of them, six have been settled, but not yet the Schwartz's, the Daily News reports. The suit also names the contractor, the co-op board, and the co-op engineer who approved Geffen's renovation plans.

Geffen did not immediately return a request for comment. 

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I thought it was a smart move, but I guess I still had a few things to learn.

The plan seemed simple enough on the surface. I would buy a little two bedroom condo one block from the beach on the shore of Lake Tahoe. I would finance it with one of those garbage loans that suck you in with an unrealistically low teaser rate.

Yep, these are the same loans that got so many people in trouble during the real estate crisis.

They trap you with a teaser rate so low you could afford the Taj Mahal, but then a year or two later the interest rate resets to reality and presto — your payment suddenly gets a lot less affordable.

But remember, I had a plan. I was smarter than that.

My plan was to pay it off during the teaser rate period so those dirty little bankers wouldn't make squat off me. I was careful. I checked the terms of the loan to make sure there was no pre-payment penalty or small print to get hung up on. I dotted my i's and crossed my t's.

Everything looked like it should work out brilliantly. I signed the loan docs, moved into my beautiful home, and started the debt payoff plan ...

Smooth sailing ... at first

Throughout the next year, I dedicated every dime that passed through my hands to paying off that loan. This was war and I was a man on a mission: It was me against those profiteering bankers and their rigged loans. There could be only one victor.

But I had an ace up my sleeve. I was making a fat income at the time and the loan balance melted away right on schedule. By the second year it was time to throw the first (and last) mortgage burning party of my life.

I celebrated. I beat the bankers at their own game. Victory was mine!

The condo was paid for. It had risen in value more than the cost of the financing. I was feeling pretty smug at my brilliance. I owned my home outright. I was free and clear. What could be wrong with that?

Seemingly nothing, but then it happened ...

What I didn't plan for ...

My investment portfolio doubled the very next year.

Now I know you are thinking, "Poor little Todd. His house is paid for and his investments doubled. Woe is me! My heart bleeds for you." It's a great situation, admittedly. But here's the problem.

I just spent the last year tying up a fat pile of cash into a piece of real estate. I suddenly woke up to the reality that all the money that went to paying off the house would have been sitting in my investment account instead.

And it would be worth twice as much as that darn house. It would have doubled!

Instead, it was tied up in home equity that was barely going nowhere.

The undeniable financial reality is that I left a fortune on the table by paying off my debt. I would have been far better off carrying the debt with a normal 30 year fixed rate mortgage and investing the surplus. Assuming a $150,000 first mortgage, I was $150,000 poorer than if I had just carried the loan like every other indebted American.

But it gets worse ...

And if that doesn't get your goat, then consider this.

I was in my 30s at the time. That theoretical $150,000 could have compounded to become many millions over my long lifetime. It isn't just the 150K I left on the table. It is the lifetime compounded value of that 150K (which is millions).

Hey, but at least I don't have that monthly payment.

Hmm ...

So next time you get all fired up about paying off debt, recognize the equation isn't as simple as it sounds on the surface. There are two sides to every story.

The art and science of paying debt

There are two sides to the "paying off debt" story — the art and the science.

The science of paying off debt is black and white clear. You place your capital wherever it provides the highest after tax return.

In my situation, that was my investment accounts. For other people the answer might be paying off debt. There is no right-wrong answer that can be generalized to everyone; however, there is one right answer for you.

The other side of the coin to paying off debt is the art side — which is more subtle (as art usually is). It has to do with your emotions, goals, and happiness.

For example, I succumbed to the emotional appeal of being debt free even though I knew my investment accounts had a higher after-tax return. I love minimizing my cash outflows, and I deeply dislike owing anyone for anything.

Debt is the antithesis of freedom. I love freedom passionately so I loathe debt even more passionately. That was why I paid off the mortgage. It was an emotional thing.

I view my financial picture like a business, so the less cash that goes out the stronger my "business," the lower my risk, and the less I have to earn to sustain any given lifestyle.

It all sounds very logical from an art standpoint, but it is really just rationalization for an emotional decision. At the end of the day math rules your wealth equation — whatever provides the highest after tax return is what determines the financially best choice.

Emotions are a different thing ... so I ended up paying off my debt.

And it cost me a fortune.

Todd Tresidder is a money coach with an unconventional take on personal finance ... like why everything taught about the money you need for retirement is wrong and why variable annuities are a bad deal for almost everyone except the salesperson. He leaves the getting out of debt stuff to guys with far more experience living with liabilities like J.Money.

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Who needs a traditional white picket fence when you could have your own castle … or train car?

We had our friends at property search site Estately round up some of the most unusual homes for sale in the US right now. 

From a Texas mansion with its own bunker that can sleep 12 people to Sarah Palin’s Arizona home, these 16 unconventional houses are available for purchase right now. 

Live inside this spaceship-like dome in New York.

This wooden dome home is surrounded by 28 acres of forest in Mohonk Preserve in New York.

With 2,300 square feet of space, it has three bedrooms, two levels, and a library. Plus, there’s a cedar deck outside that surrounds the home.

Address: 116 Canaan Road, New Paltz, NY

Price: $899,000

This home looks normal at first glance — until you realize it has its own railroad.

This nearly 20-acre estate has its own railroad that goes through tunnels and over elevated beams — there's even a video of the homeowner riding it. It’s on sale in Sherwood, Oregon, and includes gardens, a pasture, and outbuildings.

The main home is 4,900 square feet with four bedrooms and a game room.

Address:18055 SW Seiffert Road, Sherwood, OR

Price: $2.9 million

You could also live in a little red caboose in Wisconsin.

While living in a century-old train car may not sound luxurious, this caboose was converted into a summer home and has a kitchen, bath, eating area, and bunk beds.

There’s also a two-story cabin (or "train station") with a porch, game room, bedroom, and deck.

Address:6004 Bay Shore Drive, Sturgeon Bay, WI

Price: $165,000

Home prices in the Bay Area have skyrocketed over the past few years. As we've documented, real-estate prices in and around San Francisco are some of the highest in the nation and getting only higher.

Worries have popped over during this climb that the market could be approaching bubble territory.

According to Jeff Mezger, CEO of KB Home, one of the largest home builders in the country, that shouldn't be a concern.

"I don't think you are anywhere near a bubble price, certainly not at the price points we are playing at," said Mezger. "Sad to say, but $1.5 million is affordable in the Bay Area right now or the City of San Francisco, I'd say."

According to Mezger, the increasing prices are just a function of simple economics.

"And in terms of that, if you look in the Bay Area, it's so underserved, as an example," he said. "There is such good demand and so little supply."

Housing bubbles are typically an issue not when prices are high, but rather when prices are high and buyers are taking on large loads of debt to make purchases. As the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco argued, debt loads for households are not high enough to constitute a bubble.

KB Home was the eighth-largest home builder in the country by housing revenue in 2014, and is one of the top for California specifically.

Mezger's comments were in response to a question about the higher average pricing that his company has been able to achieve in California. He said that this has been because the company is closing developments in cheaper, inland areas and instead opening them in the higher-priced San Francisco area.

Mezger said:

I guess, you say it's pricing power, but it's really mix, and if we close out of a community in inland California and replace it with a higher-priced City of San Francisco condo at $1.5 million, it will look like we are getting a lot of price. But it's really just a relocation of the product where you are at a higher-priced submarket with still an attractive price for that place.

To be fair, as a home builder, it would be surprising if Mezger predicted a housing bubble. Such a thing bursts, and that would be terrible for his business. But at this point, it doesn't appear that he is trying to keep prices down.

"So, I think, we are seeing some price, we will take price where the market will give it to us," said Mezger.

His thinking is simply that sometimes the demand is there and prices go up, but that doesn't mean it's a bubble.

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