The Plaza
Clock Tower to Plaza: Watch Us Get Russians (And Donatella!)
The Plaza and 15 Central Park West better watch out, because a new ultra-luxe condo is coming to town and its developers are already claiming they will have the edge with an emergent, but increasingly lucrative, segment of the residential market: the Russians.
Earlier this week, Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Investments announced that it had contracted Versace to spearhead the interior redesign of the Clock Tower Building and convert the former MetLife headquarters at 5 Madison Avenue into a 55-unit condo.
Versace, of course, ranks high on the list of residential amenities, but we couldn’t help but feel a brief pang of déjà vu. read more »
Plaza Watch! Irish Hotelier's Nine Million Lucky Charms
The Irish equivalent of the Plaza is the Shelbourne Hotel, give or take a couple hundred condos.
Built in 1824, in a landmark building overlooking a park in the heart of Ireland's capital, the Shelbourne has had a long reign as what The New York Times called "the princess of Dublin hotels." Like the Plaza, the 225-room hotel never lost its cache with tourists, even as more luxurious competitors popped up and service started to decline--in October 2004, an Irish court ruling stripped the Shelbourne of its five-star status, and the hotel decided to become unclassified.
A few months later, Irish oil magnate/hotelier John Sweeney swooped in with a consortium of investors and bought the down-at-the-heels hotel for 120 million Euros and promised to restore it to its former splendor with a 40 million Euro makeover. read more »
Plaza to Raise Roof: Striving for Scenesters, Hotel Hires Mixmaster
Management at the Plaza is paying a million dollars to an electronic-music composer, one Ariel Blumenthal, to create a two-hour soundtrack for its revamped Rose Bar (along with Frank Sinatra remixes for the lobby). read more »
PLAZA WATCH! Jerry Kokes's $5.4 M. Knock-Out
Jerry Kokes made his fortune selling boxing gloves. Now he's moving into one of the most white-gloved buildings in the city. The founder of T.K.O. and his wife Lynda have paid $5.4 million for a 6th-floor condo at the Plaza, city records show.
The couple are currently based in Brielle, NJ.
Plaza Watch! Billionaire Montana Philanthropist Buys $19 M. Spread
The Plaza is about as far away from Dennis J. Washington's childhood hometown of Missoula Montana as you can get, so it's a fitting place for the septuagenarian billionaire and self-styled Horatio Alger to spend his twilight years.
His wife Phyllis has paid nearly $19 million for a 19th floor-condo at the Plaza, city records show. read more »
Plaza Watch! Mother-Daughter Duo Buy Spreads, May Flee Palace
After enduring a high-profile lawsuit with the Waldorf Astoria and a stint at the Palace Hotel, Barbara Guthmacher Girard closed on a $4.7 million condo at the Plaza a couple of weeks ago. Though Ms. Gutmacher Girard signed the contract for the 1,760-square-foot, 18th-floor apartment over two years ago, she said in an interview recently that she and her wheelchair-bound, elderly mother may not move into the Plaza afterall because they had become so comfortable at the Palace. read more »
Bear Stearns' Cayne Takes The Plaza, Then Bridge
Bear Stearns chairman James Cayne was in Detroit at the start of the weekend that saw the tanking of his venerable investment bank. Why? Mr. Cayne was competing in the North American Bridge Championship, according to reports.
Also last week, as the perfect storm gathered, Mr. Cayne closed on a $25 million condo at the revamped Plaza.
The New Plaza Hotel: 'It's Kind of Empty-Looking Now'
Camera-wielding tourists, a smattering of ladies who lunch, and a few nostalgic locals milled around the newly renovated Plaza Hotel this afternoon, two days after the iconic landmark re-opened following a three-year, $400 million renovation.
The Plaza’s new owners, El-Ad Properties, gave the famous Palm Court restaurant a $15 million makeover, and a spruced-up Oak Bar will open again this spring, but only 130 of the 800 original hotel rooms remain.
About 60 percent of the original hotel has been converted to condos so the public spaces of the Plaza redux are smaller, less gaudy, and as one tourist remarked to her husband upon exiting the hotel’s revolving door “kind of stuffy.” read more »
PLAZA WATCH! Home-Lender Biggie Buys for $8.5 M.
Investment manager Joseph Stilwell has bought an $8.5 million condo at the Plaza, city records show. Mr. Stilwell is one of the largest shareholders of Cameron Financial, a U.S. home-lender established in 1887.
CHEAP 2-BDRM! W/ GREAT VIEWS! BAR IN LOBBY! CALL PLAZA
It might be a slight overstatement to say that asking rents at the Plaza have been cut in half in 2008, but, boy, have things changed since the first rental was listed last summer.
In September, Sotheby's listed a one-bedroom Plaza rental at an eye-popping $30,000 per month that is still on the market. Meanwhile, 12 of the 14 other rental units that have come online since August have languished on the market; and, this month, The Real Deal reported that Plaza condo owners have started to cut asking rents to spur interest.
Now, enter the the two-bedroom Plaza rental listed this past Sunday by Century 21 NY Metro. It's going for $16,500 a month. Granted, it only has garden views, but still... a two-bedroom at the Plaza. read more »
PLAZA WATCH! Debt Collector Nabs $4 M. Condo
The chairman of a debt collection agency with a 20-year history of landing unbid contracts with the government has closed on a condo in The Plaza, city records show. Jerold B. Katz, the patriarch of the Houston family that owns GC Services limited, paid over $4 million for Unit 1711.
GC Services has repeatedly been in the spotlight for its campaign contributions to office holders who award state contracts. Between 1980 and 2006, also Mr. read more »
PLAZA WATCH! Green Exec Buys $10 M. Condo
Green technology executive Howard Berke has bought a $10 million condo at The Plaza, according to city records. We'll see whether the co-founder and chairman of Konarka plans to make Unit 1001 more enviromentally friendly and how he gets along with his neighbors, a handful of whom made their fortunes in non-renewable energy.
Plaza's Grand Ballroom Officially Re-Opens
We got a press release trumpeting the official reopening of The Plaza's Grand Ballroom. It's been "meticulously restored to its 1929 opulence," and had a soft opening last week as the site of a party for Chanel Fine Jewelry.
I got a sneak peak at the Ballroom last month, when it was still undergoing the renovations. Elizabeth Stribling, whose firm markets The Plaza condos, told me that the ceiling, in particular, would be restored. Apparently, that hadn't been done since Conrad Hilton owned the place in the middle of the last century. read more »
Suze Orman, TV's Finance Maharishi, Buys $3.6 M. Plaza Spread
Suze Orman, the well-tanned finance guru, who writes huge-selling books like You've Earned It, Don't Lose It and The Courage to Be Rich, once said she was simply aghast at real estate mania. Rampant condo speculation, she intoned, was a sure sign Americans were “losing their minds.”
But a deed filed today show that trusts in the name of Ms. Orman and her partner Kathy (“get yourself a living revocable trust” was Ms. read more »
Elizabeth at The Plaza
Ms. Stribling: The lobby you’re entering now has the original mosaic floors of the Plaza that were created in 1907—we just celebrated our 100th anniversary. They’ve really been polished and brought back to their splendor. … We echo some of the mosaic work in the bathrooms and the kitchens of the residences. This is the complete private entry lobby for the residences. It shows you the original check-in concierge desk for the hotel, and it will be dedicated to the residences now.
Location: Can you describe the marketing of the Plaza? read more »
It's Eloise By a Nose! Plaza Takes Price Lead Over 15 C.P.W.
Together, the newly converted Plaza Hotel and the newly constructed Fifteen Central Park West represent the pinnacle of Manhattan’s luxury development boom this decade—amenity-laden condos with sweeping views of Central Park and hoity buyer rosters to rival any building’s in the city. But only one can be No. 1 in price and it looks like, so far, the Plaza has a slight edge.
The Plaza’s most expensive condos have sold for $6,400 a square foot, said Elizabeth Stribling, whose Stribling Marketing Associates is the exclusive sales agent for the building owned by Elad Properties. That's roughly $100 greater than the highest per-foot price attained at Fifteen Central Park West, developed by William and Arthur Lie Zeckendorf. That price is $6,288, according to Terra Holdings, the holding company where the Zeckendorf brothers are co-chairmen. read more »
Plaza Is the New UN: Panamanian Buys In for $8.8 M.
Recent Plaza sales seem to have a south-of-the-border theme.
In this week’s Observer, Max Abelson spoke to Rogerio Azcarraga Madero, the Mexican radio mogul whose holding company dropped $8.2 million on a Plaza pad. read more »
Mexican Radio Magnate Buys Latest Pad, $8.2 M. Plaza Condo—‘We Own Over 65 Apartments’
Two days after closing on a $5.3 million penthouse duplex at 715 Park Avenue, a Mexican radio and music publishing mogul named Rogerio Azcárraga Madero closed last month on a $8.26 million Plaza apartment. read more »
Over The Weekend...
This holiday weekend was Plaza heavy, with an $8,616,895.53 condo purchase in the 100-year-old hotel, according to city records. The buyer was Fred G. Farago, the president of California-based American Fruit Processors, a provider of fruity flavored syrups and extracts. The purchased unit, number 1003, was Mr. Farago’s second in the building. He purchased unit 1505 in July for $5,873,316.
Perhaps the fruit-king decided he needed more space?
Also at The Plaza last week was a $5,343,457.41 condo sold to Mary Q. Pedersen from Purchase, N.Y. Ms. Pedersen chose unit 506.
Another Low-Baller at The Plaza
We found another low price tag at The Plaza today, this one for $2,213,877.60. As we mentioned last week, it’s surprising to find these lower-cost units available in a building with so many $10-million (and up) condos. It somehow inspires a sense of relief.
The buyer was listed as Kennedy Park Gallery USA Ltd, and calls to his or her (or their) lawyer did not turn up anymore information on the buyer's true identity. Since unit 508, the condo in question, is a residential unit, our guess would be that it’s an individual buying through a company name.
Former UBS Investment Bank President Buys in The Plaza for $11 M.
The former head of UBS' investment bank has bought Unit 907 in The Plaza for $11,050,697.08, according to city records. Kenneth D. Moelis resigned as president of UBS' investment bank earlier this year after barely two years at its helm and more than six years with the financial services giant.
Mr. Moelis, as a trustee of the Moelis Family Trust, is listed on the deed as a buyer of the condo, along with wife Julie Lynn Moelis, also listed as a trustee.
A Plaza Condo for Under $3 M.!?!
City records show that Unit 802 at The Plaza has sold for $2,891,489.90. That's astoundingly low compared to most of the other condo purchases in the building. Just recently, a spate of sales closed for around $10 million each. And the hotel-turned-partly condo also includes what could become the biggest apartment sale in New York history.
But, apparently, there's room--literally--for the relatively small spender. read more »
Plaza, Plaza! Condo There Goes for $5 M.
We found another sale at The Plaza today, this one for $5,110,316.06. Considering how many sales we’ve seen in the $10 million range, this one stands out as a bargain. It’s unit 905, and the buyers are listed as Michael and Meryl Mann.
The name may sound familiar, but we assure you that it’s not that Michael Mann, the Hollywood writer, director, and producer of Ali and Miami Vice. read more »
Another $10 M. (or Thereabouts) Spread at The Plaza
Unit 1301 at The Plaza has sold for $9,522,606.61, according to city records. It's the latest in a series of sales at the iconic hotel turned partly condo that have fallen in the roughly $10 million range.
At the tail end of summer, UNICEF ambassador Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff bought a 14th-floor condo for $9,586,957. Russian banker Vladimir Stolyarenko bought a condo one floor up around the same time for $10,184,363.46. Also during the summer, espresso magnate Giuseppe De'Longhi paid $11.2 million for a condo on the same floor as Mr. Stolyarenko. The Observer's Max Abelson covered these buys here.
Then, late last month, Thomas and Kathy Mendoza, the namesakes for the Notre Dame business school, bought Unit 1015 in The Plaza for $9,026,113.59. Also in October, Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M Records, paid $9,472,597.13 for an eighth-floor condo. And, finally, attorney Richard Rosenbaum of Scarsdale bought Unit 703 for $8,741,976, according to city records.
This latest $10 million-or-thereabouts purchase was by Michael M. McNamara and wife Deborah. Mr. McNamara is CEO of the vaguely otherworldly sounding Flextronics International, an electronics manufacturing services provider. We have a call out to Flextronics' offices. read more »
Over The Weekend...
Two big sales in city records caught our eyes over the weekend, with price tags above $5 million (and, of course, one had to be in The Plaza):
- Lawyer Richard and Loretta Rosenbaum of Scarsdale purchased unit 703 in The Plaza for $8,741,976. We can't help but wonder how this suburban couple will get along with all the Russians. We have a call out to Mr. Rosenbaum.
- New York University Stern School of Business prof and Partner at Plainfield Asset Management Les Levi sold his 25 Central Park West condo for $7,060,000. The buyer is listed as Plutus NY, LLC.
Notre Dame Business School Namesakes Buy in The Plaza for $9 M.
Thomas and Kathy Mendoza, the namesakes for the Nortre Dame business school, have bought Unit 1015 in The Plaza for $9,026,113 and 59 cents, according to city records. Mr. Mendoza is president of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based data storage company Network Appliance.
In 2000, the Mendozas gave Notre Dame, Mr. Mendoza's alma mater, $35 million, according to Slate. The university then renamed its business school the Mendoza College of Business.
Infinitely more interesting, though: Earlier this year, the Mendozas sold their five-bedroom Beverly Hills home to talk show softball tosser Larry King.
Another Putin Pal—Patriots Owner Robert Kraft—Buys in The Plaza
According to city records filed today, a buyer named Kraft Plaza LLC just forked over $14,477,211 (plus 59 cents) for an eleventh floor apartment at The Plaza.
Who’s the actual buyer? It’s not hard to guess, considering the appearance of “Kraft” in the corporation name, and considering that the corporation’s address is “1 Patriot Place” in Foxborough, Mass., and considering that the Post long-ago reported that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft would be buying a condo at the 100-year-old hotel.
Hilariously, this adds another layer to the endlessly rich Russian subplot at the Plaza. As the Post wrote: “Kraft presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with his diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring during a meeting with U.S. business executives, so the fomer KGB head might be a frequent visitor (wink, wink) on Fifth Avenue.”
So if you’re keeping score at home, that means the Plaza now officially has two big Putin pals, plus two serious enemies of the Russian state.
Paul Anka! Matthew Broderick! Um ... It Must Be the Plaza's 100th Birthday!
Did you know The Plaza was turning 100 this coming month? Paul Anka knew! Matthew Broderick knew! They're both going to be on hand, apparently, to celebrate the momentous event. Once upon a time it was a lovely hotel your middle-class mother took you to for tea once a year (hey, Carmela! Welcome back!) Now it's a condominium you can't afford to live in. So break out the Grucci fireworks, the 12-foot birthday cake, and ... the Orchestra of St. Luke's!
Read the full press release after the jump. read more »
Report: Plaza Owner Wants to Build City's Tallest Apartment Tower [UPDATED]
Reuters reports this morning that Elad Group, the real estate firm that owns the Plaza Hotel, plans to build a 95-story apartment tower on Madison Avenue. At 899 feet, the $450 million tower would be the tallest residential tower in the city and about 71 percent of the height of the Empire State Building, the city's tallest commercial tower. (We're confused by the initial reports, however, which claim Elad plans to build a 75-story tower on an existing 20-story building; 899 feet seems a little short for a 95-story tower. The Chrysler Building, for instance, has 77 stories and is nearly 1,100 feet tall. The Empire State Building's 102 stories stretch over 1,224 feet.)
Elad, owned by Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva, bought the Plaza in 2004 in a $675 million deal, and is converting most of it into condos.
UPDATE: Elad publicist Lloyd Kaplan tells us that Elad can't talk about anything. "I can give you a 'no comment,'" Mr. Kaplan said. "That's all I can say."
New York magazine's Daily Intellingencer reports that the tower will be 74 stories (that makes a little more sense) and that the architect will be Daniel Libeskind. Still, no one seems to know for sure, and Elad isn't talking. So... stay tuned.
UPDATE 2: The Department of Buildings has no permits approved or awaiting approval for any construction at the Elad-owned Grand Madison condo at 225 Fifth Avenue near Madison Square Park. So, if any building is going up, it's likely not going up there.
The Two Towers
At The Plaza, record-breaking deals but no big names yet; 15 Central Park West, on the other hand ... read more »
It Was The Summer of Big Deals!
The summer is typically a time when news slows down to a snail’s pace. People (including reporters) split for the beach and opt for the latest Pat Conroy novel rather than a daily read of the newspaper.
But from the standpoint of Manhattan residential real estate, the summer of 2007 was one of the most newsworthy on record.
Let us recap. read more »
Europeans at the Plaza Gates: More $10 M. Sales
Herbert Hoover, Richard Burton, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy are featured in the revamped Plaza’s lush marketing photo album. But the real buyers at The Plaza’s new incarnation (282 hotel rooms and 182 condos) are proving to be a tad more international.
According to city records, UNICEF ambassador Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff has bought a 14th-floor apartment for $9,586,957. Ms. Linsenhoff, a Düsseldorf-born equestrian, won an Olympic gold medal with the German dressage team. read more »
New York's Priciest Apartment: A Plaza Spread Officially Goes for Record $51.5 M.
It’s been eight heady weeks since The Observer, citing an anonymous source, reported that an apartment spread at the licentiously redesigned Plaza Hotel would be selling for more than $50 million.
Lo and behold! Early this afternoon, deeds filed in public records announced that six apartments on the seventh-floor of the gold-bedecked Central Park palace were sold and closed. The contract, signed in March 2006, rounds out to the gorgeous amount of $51,539,180.
And that’s not all: one deed lists the property’s function as “Community Service”--though, more sensibly, a second deed calls the spread “One Family Residential” instead.
Community servicing or not, this is the first apartment in New York City to close above the $50 million mark. (Other published reports, without the benefit of public records, have said Harry Macklowe will spend $60 million on Plaza apartments, and that a London-based oilman will buy a $56 million triplex.)
It isn’t clear if this seventh-floor sprawl went to the oilman or to Mr. Macklowe or to someone else: The buyer is listed anonymously as Plaza 7 Apartment LLC.
For now, this is officially the most expensive apartment in New York City. According to city records, the only Manhattan home sale to beat this $51.5 million deal is last year’s Harkness Mansion deal: The billionaire J. Christopher Flowers paid $53 million for that French Renaissance townhouse on East 75th. read more »
Over $50 M.? $56 M.? Paging the Plaza--Please Brag
The Observer reported last week that an apartment in the Plaza Hotel had sold for at least $50 million.
Well, The Times reports this morning that an apartment did, indeed, sell at the Plaza for at least $50 million--for $56 million to be exact.
But, here's the problem, as The Times' Josh Barbanel notes:
Last week, the online edition of The New York Observer reported a sale at the Plaza in excess of $50 million, but brokers familiar with the building could not confirm whether that report referred to the same sale or a second sale in the same price range.
So, we have, then, either one apartment for at least $50 million--or two separate apartments for at least $50 million. One or the other, or both, would, individually, represent the most expensive single-apartment purchase by far in New York City history. Confused? Anxious?
It's understandable. What's not so much is why the Plaza's handlers--including Stribling & Associates, the icon's exclusive sales agent--won't share details of what are already deals (or a deal) in contract. Why the modesty? Why not bask in a glow so bright as to eclipse even a red-hot residential real-estate market?
Stay tuned...
Putting the $50 M. Plaza Sale in Perspective
4 East 75th Street. J. Christopher Flowers bought the 20,100 square-foot Harkness Mansion in 2006 for $53 million.
15 Central Park West. Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb purchased a 10-bedroom, 10,700-square-foot penthouse here in 2005 for $45 million.
834 Fifth Avenue. Rupert Murdoch purchased the 8,00- square-foot, three-story apartment in this fabled co-op building in 2004 for $44 million
Time Warner Center. British moneyman David Martinez bought both the 76th and 77th floors of the south tower, totaling 12,000 square feet, in 2003 for $42.25 million
1009 Fifth Avenue. Known as the Duke Semans mansion, cab driver-cum-Russian oil mogul Tamir Sapir bought this property in January 2006 for $40 million.
810 Fifth Avenue. Blackstone Group cofounder Pete Peterson bought David Geffen's 12-room duplex at 810 Fifth Avenue in May 2007 for $37.5 million.
2 East 63rd Street. Russian businessman Lee Blavatnik purchased this 20,600-square-foot mansion for $31.25 million in 2005.
