Ben Affleck scopes out pricey pad with new girlfriend in tow,
OSCAR-
winning actor Ben Affleck and his gal pal Lindsay Shookus (inset, above) have been spotted house hunting at one of the city’s poshest addresses, Gimme Shelter can reveal.
Affleck, who has three children with his ex, actress Jennifer Garner, went public with his new love, a “Saturday Night Live” producer, in July. They’ve been spotted recently around town at the US Open and eating dinner at sushi eatery Momoya. But they’ve been scoping pricey rental units well away from the public eye — even though the chosen apartment will be for Affleck alone. “Ben has always loved New York. He’s been looking at property for a while, and needs to find a place that is suitable for his kids. He plans to stay in LA full-time to be close to them,” says a source close to Affleck. Nevertheless, the search has been a joint effort. “They are very sweet together,” another spy says, adding that they have been viewing places on their own — on the down low and without an entourage. One home they expressed interest in is at the starstudded, Robert A.M. Stern- designed 15 Central Park West. It’s a unit that, fittingly, already has a celebrity-filled history of its own. Apartment 26C, which is now asking $39,000 a month, counted Mark Wahlberg as a tenant in 2009. Then Alex Rodriguez bid on the pad (but didn’t get it) after he was booted out of a rental on a higher floor when the owner decided to sell that unit. The three-bedroom apartment is 2,761 square feet. The listing brokers, Douglas Elliman’s Katherine
Gauthier and Wilfredo Will Rivera, declined to comment.