Demand for condos at Plaza Hotel is pretty weak

Apartments at iconic hotel haven't kept up with comparable buildings

The Plaza Hotel on Central Park in Midtown
The Plaza Hotel on Central Park in Midtown

Anecdotes and average price data tell the same story — condo units at The Swanky Plaza Hotel greatly underperform compared to the ultra-deluxe high-rise units on nearby “Billionaires’ Row.”

Doug Morris, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, recently sold his two-bedroom at the Central Park classic, located at 768 Fifth Avenue. He netted $10 million, a mere $2,832 over the price he paid in 2007. 

Median prices at the hotel were $3,636 per square foot when it was partially converted to condos by Elad Properties in 2007 and 2008, one of the highest condo price points in the city at the time.

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But over the last 18 months, median prices there stand at a mere $4,325 a foot. An improvement, to be sure, but nowhere near the $6,323 per square foot median at nearby 15 Central Park West or the $5,340 per foot median at the Time Warner Center, the New York Daily News reported.

Prices at eight nearby buildings, including the above, along with 15 Central Park West, the Metropolitan Tower, the Park Imperial, Essex House, Trump Parc and Trump Park Avenue, have gone by an average of 37 percent over the past eight years, compared to just 19 percent at The Plaza, according to the Daily News.

The Plaza just didn’t turn out to be the great project it was supposed to be,” Compass broker Jay Glazer told the Daily News. [NYDN]Ariel Stulberg