From left: Images of the penthouse and Christian Candy

Christian Candy, the developer of London’s famed residential and retail complex One Hyde Park, has listed his penthouse unit in the Plaza for $59 million, Curbed reported. This whopping price tag makes the home the priciest to hit the Manhattan market this week, according to StreetEasy. [more]

From left: Justin Elghanayan and Stephen Byrns

Location is, of course, the key to real estate, but it is also sometimes a key to winning approval for aggressive designs from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, former Commissioner Stephen Byrns said at a private talk last night. [more]

Sahara chairman Subrata Roy and the Dream Downtown Hotel

Lost in all the buzz surrounding its $570 million acquisition of a stake in the Plaza Hotel was the news that India-based Sahara India Pariwar may take an 85 percent stake in hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal’s Dream Downtown Hotel. It’s not clear when the deal might close, as reports by the New York Times and India Today are conflicted. But the deal orchestrated by Sahara chairman Subrata Roy is said to value the hotel, at 355 West 16th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, at $100 million. [more]

From left: Sahara Group founder Subrata Roy, Elad Properties' Yitzhak Tshuva, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the Plaza Hotel

Elad Properties announced the details of its sale of a 60 percent stake in the Plaza hotel, Reuters reporterd. India-based Sahara Group will pay Elad $400 million for its share of the property and fork over an additional $170 million for another 15 percent of the property currently owned by Kingdom Holdings, an investment group run by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. Kingdom will retain a 25 percent stake, according to Elad. [more]

A real estate developer is being sued by his mother-in-law for allegedly defrauding her of $10 million. Jonathan Winston, who the New York Daily News reported once said he would be “bigger than Donald Trump,” leveraged trust he had established with his wife’s mother, Annette Lorber, into managing her money, which he borrowed and stole, according to Lorber’s complaint. [more]

Sahara India Pariwar Chairman Subrata Roy Sahara and the Plaza Hotel

Sahara India Pariwar is close to closing on its acquisition of a stake in the Plaza Hotel, according to the New York Post, which has updated financial details on the deal. Contrary to previous reports, the Elad Group would not be selling its stake in the property for $600 million, instead it would be closer to $450 million as Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holdings will hold on to its 50 percent stake in the 130 hotel rooms and public spaces and its 25 percent stake in the 100 condo-hotel rooms. [more]

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the Plaza Hotel

The widely reported $600 million offer for the Plaza hotel would not include the stake controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, according to Bloomberg News. Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company had sold the Plaza to the Elad Group for $675 million in 2004, but then bought back a portion soon after, a spokesperson for the firm said. [more]

Clockwise from left: Dina Lewis and Sonia Stock of Elliman; Corcoran's Meris Blumstein, Elliman's Melanie Lazenby and guest; High tea spread; A guest (right) with Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis (left); a royal picture in the apartment's main dining room

Power brokers such as Prudential Douglas Elliman’s director of sales Chris Peters, senior vice president Sonia Stock and the Corcoran Group’s Meris Blumstein sipped green tea and nibbled on scones and lemon curd today at a high-tea, low-key broker lunch inside one of the most historic homes at the residences at the Plaza Hotel.

Elliman duo Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis had invited a small pack of heavy hitters to view their exclusive $165,000-a-month, 5,087-square-foot rental listing (see photos after the jump), which is owned by Esprit CEO Esprit founder Jurgen Friedrich (who wasn’t in attendance)…. [more]

From left: Christian Candy, the Plaza and the $25.4 million penthouse

Elad’s final residential apartment in the Plaza Hotel, a three-level penthouse that was nearly sold three separate times, has finally sold for $25.4 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The 6,300-square-foot condominium unit, listed by Stribling & Associates broker Alexa Lambert, was bought by British property developer Christian Candy, famous for building London’s One Hyde Park. Candy, who was represented by Corcoran Group broker Louis Buckworth, said he coveted the unit for its iconic location and plans to use it as a home as he begins to explore development opportunities in the city. [more]