To Russia, with intent: Macklowe touts 432 Park Avenue at Moscow hotel

Macklowe Properties is stepping up its overseas marketing of its flagship project 432 Park Avenue. The developer recently sent sales representatives to Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton hotel to court potential buyers for its 1,398-foot-tall condominium tower, a spokesperson for 432 Park Avenue – which is being co-developed by Macklowe Properties and the CIM Group — confirmed to The Real Deal. The representatives met with some of the country’s top real estate brokers and their clients at the hotel, located on Tverskaya Street, which is seen as a hub for the country’s business elite, sources said.

“Representatives for 432 Park Avenue have made visits to select markets around the world to meet with clients whose schedules do not permit them to be in New York City in the near future,” the spokesperson said.

It’s not hard to see why Macklowe Properties would be courting clients in Moscow. Russian buyers such as fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev have been gobbling up the ultra-high end of the Manhattan residential market, as The Real Deal reported.

“There are two or three hotels in Moscow which see such high traffic of high-net-worth individuals, it’s a no-brainer to spend a few dollars to get a couple of sales,” said Edward Mermelstein, a partner at law firm Rheem Bell & Mermelstein who makes frequent trips to Russia but is not involved in 432 Park Avenue. “They’re in that space discussing billion-dollar deals. It’s just a matter of catching their attention.”

A 432 Park Avenue brochure alongside a Christian Dior brochure at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton hotel (Credit: Ronn Torossian)

“Seeing this real estate project internationally alongside brands such as Dior and Bentley says a lot about who they are targeting in the … hotel facing Red Square,” said Manhattan-based public relations entrepreneur Ronn Torossian, who snapped photographs of the brochures distributed in the hotel’s lounge.

Closer to home, the developer has taken a clandestine approach to sales at the building by using in-house brokers and keeping listings off broker databases such as the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Listing Service (RLS), On-Line Residential or consumer-facing sites like StreetEasy, as The Real Deal reported.

A rendering of 432 Park Avenue (Credit: dbox for CIM Group/Macklowe Properties)

Harry Macklowe, who has said that he sees 432 Park Avenue as his pièce de résistance and the culmination of his career, recently spent $1 million on a four-minute film showcasing the property.

Representatives for the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow were unavailable for comment.