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NEW
YORK
 
The Plaza at a glance:
Location:
Fifth Avenue and Central Park South
Opened:
1907
Rooms:
805
Style:
French Renaissance
Architect:
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (1847-1918)
First to sign register: Mr. and Mrs.
Alfred Gwyne Vanderbilt
Nightly rate, 1907:
$2.50
Nightly rate, 2004:
$259* *base
rate, double-occupancy
Higlights:
Parts of films "North by Northwest," "The Great Gatsby,"
"Crocodile Dundee" and the current "Machurian Candidate"
were filmed ther; hotel hosted wedding reception of actors Michael Douglas
and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Catchphrase:
"Nothing unimportant ever happens at the Plaza."
Source:
REUTERS, FAIRMONT HOTEL CHAIN
At 100, Plaza celebrates sales
Only 12 condos remain unsold at the Plaza
Hotel, celebrates the building's centennial tonight. Isaac Tshuva's Elad
Properties spent $675 million buying the Plaza and another $400 million
restoring it and creating 181 condos and 152 hotel-condos. The 134
traditional hotel rooms have been sold for $500 million and one-third of the
hotel-condos are sold. The condos are selling for at least
$5,000 per square foot. Buyers include Harry Macklowe and Bear Stearns CEO
James Cayne. - 2007 October 1
Little
room for Eloise
The news that the legendary Plaza Hotel is to be
converted into condominiums and luxury rentals later this year has caused
quite a fuss. Although the 98-year-old building was landmarked in 1969, only
the façade is protected from structural changes. Among the many New Yorkers
protesting against the renovation, the hotel's union representatives have
put up the biggest fight, as some 900 hotel employees were set to lose their
jobs. The union had staged a number of public protests, and lobbied the
city's landmarks preservation office to limit the conversion. On April 14th,
the owner of the Plaza Hotel, Elad Properties, reached a tentative deal with
Local 6, the union. Mayor Bloomberg's office helped broker the agreement,
which will preserve almost half of the hotel rooms and retain about 350 of
the 900 threatened jobs. The hotel's renowned public spaces, such as the
Palm Court, Oak Room, Oak Bar and Grand Ballroom will remain open. The Plaza
is expected to close at the end of April for this $350m overhaul, and reopen
at the end of 2006.
The hotel's owners also face a lawsuit from the
jeweller who leases two stores in the Plaza's lobby. The jeweller is suing
to keep the hotel open, claiming the proposed conversion violates the terms
of his leases. The stores have been ordered to close by August. -
ECONOMIST.com 18 Apr 2005
An
Icon Changes Hands
A deal on The Plaza
Landmark Manhattan hotel, a money-loser, is sold to Israeli company for $675
million
14 Aug 2004 -
The Plaza Hotel, Manhattan's money-losing luxury landmark, has been
sold by a Saudi prince and a London-based hotel chain to an Israeli company
for $675 million.
Condominium developer Elad Properties-Ad Group Ltd. -
a Fort Lee, N.J.-based subsidiary of I.T. America Israel Investment Ltd. -
may convert some of The Plaza into residential units, one person close to
the transaction said, noting that a previous owner received approval to add
apartments in the 1980s.
Selling The Plaza are co-owners Saudi Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal - the world's fourth richest man - and Millennium &
Copthorne Hotels Plc, which owns 92 hotels including the Millennium
Broadway.
Elad, whose parent is controlled by Israeli hotel
chain owner Yitzhak Tshuva, made an unsolicited bid for the 805-room Plaza,
which Prince Alwaleed and partners bought from Donald Trump in 1995 for $325
million.
Friday's announced sale, at nearly $838,000 per
room price, is a record for New York, according to Sean Hennessey of Lodging
Investment Advisors. Yet despite its cachet and prime location on Central
Park South, the 97-year-old grand dame of marquis hotels hasn't been able to
escape an industrywide downturn. The hotel had a pre-tax loss of $900,000
last year, according to Millennium & Copthorne.
We believe the decision to sell The Plaza is in
line with these considerations," Millennium chairman Kwek Leng Beng
stated. "It's an icon, but the price is too good to refuse," the
billionaire told reporters. "The prince is very happy ... "
Elad is developing luxury condominiums throughout
Manhattan, including a 50-apartment complex at 21 Astor Place and office
buildings turned luxury condos at 49 E. 21st St. and at 655 Sixth Ave.
Elad president and chief executive Miki Naftali
didn't return several calls seeking comment. But sources close to the deal
said it's unlikely Elad would convert the entire Plaza into apartments
because of its large, unionized work force, and the dominant public spaces,
including lobbies and ballrooms that would be difficult to transform.
Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts hopes
to continue on as The Plaza's manager.
"We're actively engaged in discussions with
the potential purchaser for a new management contract," said Emma
Thompson, Fairmont's executive director of investor relations, adding that
the new owners "intend to invest a significant amount of capital."
- By Pradnya Joshi, Alan J. Wax contributed to this
story, which was supplemented with news service report NEWSDAY
14 Aug 2004
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