Elise Knutsen of the New York Observer reports that the paper has received a letter from Brown Harris Stevens,the management company for 740 Park Avenue, firmly denying a source’s contention last week that it or the building’s board had any knowledge that one of BHS’s owners, Kent Swig, had borrowed against his 740 apartment (now occuppied by his estranged wife, the former Elizabeth Macklowe). “The suggestion that Brown Harris Stevens would somehow violate the rules of a building it manages, and thus its fiduciary duties, in order to accommodate a principal is absolutely untrue and very damaging to Brown Harris Stevens’ nearly 140 year old sterling reputation,” the firm wrote, leaving no doubt it feels itself innocent. As the loan document above from August 1997 indicates, the rules of the building were violated, however, quite long ago, when 845 shares of the co-op corporation stock and the Swigs’ proprietary lease were pledged as collateral. So the mystery lingers. How did Swig manage to borrow against an apartment in the city’s premier all-cash building? Did the Board breach its duty? Did the banks that loaned to the Swigs neglect to get Board recognition agreements? Inquiring cooperators want to know!

A few months back a genius told me she was convinced that luxury real estate had run its course as a subject of fascination. So how come even the Daily Mail in London thinks the spurious tale of the possible foreclosure of Kent and Elizabeth Swig‘s apartment at 740 Park is big news? This story has legs, but will it stand? Stay tuned. Apparently, you won’t be alone.

Yesterday, The New York Observer named several 740 Park households that were hit by the headwinds of economic distress in recent years. Today, there’s the first new listing in a long time at the storied tower, and none of the Observered names are involved. Computer gaming mogul Gregory Fischbach and wife Linda, a former fashion magazine editrix, have listed the former Thelma Chrysler Foy jewelbox (above) on the 17th floor of the trophy building, according to the New York Post, which hints that it’s a so-called pocket listing–i.e. not in the broker database open to all, but held tightly by one realtor. Alas, that realtor goes unnamed so there’s no way to know if the price–$29 million–is right. If it is, it’s either a sign of very good times, or of over-optimism on the part of the sellers. The best apartment in the building, Steve Schwarzman‘s 34-room duplex with mezzanine, just below, sold for a tad more than that about a little over a decade, but it has almost four times as much room.

In today’s New York Observer, Elise Knutsen looks at 740 Park and some of the families there who’ve felt the effects of the Great Recession.

Blairsden, the 62,000 square foot 38-room Peapack, New Jersey mansion built by C. Ledyard Blair, heir to the Union Pacific fortune and a former resident of 740 Park, is on the market. Built in about 1900 at a cost of $2 million, it’s also a relative bargain at $4.9 million, even if it now sits on 34 acres compared to its original 423 acres.

Courtney Sale Ross is going for the record books, listing her double duplex at 740 Park for $60 million. You go, girl! Check it out in today’s Wall Street Journal.

The cat’s out of the bag. Curbed National’s chief real estate savant Sarah Firshein just revealed the jacket of Unreal Estate — and wheedled out me the first hints of what’s inside, even as I’m still knee-deep in answering queries from the copy editor. You’ll get no more out of me. So go there instead. Curbed will even lead you to Amazon where you can pre-order the book (which will be published November 1, 2011).

In my Crains New York Business column this week, I wonder why condos are worth more than co-ops. In dollars, that is. UPDATE: Curbed New York is quite amused by this column, and uses it as an excuse to say that 740 Park is “the only [book] that matters” on the subject of New York City co-ops. Whoo-hoo!

You can’t keep a good building down (or out of the news), I guess. This weekend’s New York Times includes a story on outer borough versions of the fabled 740 Park, and two more on apartment owners: libertarian billionaire David Koch and hedge fund honcho David Ganek. It’s a 740 party!

The Real Deal reports on a spectacular price chop at 740 Park. The estate of June and Randolph Speight, she an heiress, he a former board president, is still trying to sell their 15 room duplex. The price has now dropped from $35 million to a bargain basement $23 million. Attention 740-Mart shoppers!