Two Russian billionaires shopping NYC properties

Plaza Hotel, UES properties shopped amid Ukraine invasion, sanctions

Valery Kogan, the Plaza Hotel, Alexey Kuzmichev and 33 E. 74th Street (Plaza Hotel, 33east74, LetterOne Group, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Valery Kogan, the Plaza Hotel, Alexey Kuzmichev and 33 E. 74th Street (Plaza Hotel, 33east74, LetterOne Group, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

At least two Russian billionaires appear to be lightening their asset loads, shopping New York City properties as sanctions wrack the nation’s wealthiest individuals.

Valery Kogan, co-owner of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, and his wife Olga are quietly looking to sell their spread in the Plaza Hotel for $50 million, the New York Post reported. The couple purchased the two-unit condo for $26 million about 15 years ago before combining the units.

This is not their first attempt at selling the spread, though the last one came right before the pandemic altered the global economy. At the time, they listed the unit, complete with crystal chandeliers and gold finishes, for $45 million.

The couple is looking to part with much more than the Plaza Hotel home, according to the Post. The Kogans are also shopping properties at 15 Central Park West and 515 Park Avenue in the city, plus properties in Connecticut, the West Coast and even Israel. They are looking to part with around $250 million in property in the New York area alone.

Kogan’s current net worth isn’t clear, but Forbes last pinned it at $2.5 billion in 2014, making him one of the 700 most wealthy people in the world at the time.

The Kogans aren’t the only wealthy Russians ready to move on from New York.

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The Post also reported Alexey Kuzmichev, the co-founder of recently sanctioned Alfa Bank, is trying to sell his quadruplex at 33 East 74th Street for $41 million. The billionaire bought his portion of the Atterbury Mansion for $42 million in 2016.

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The banking mogul originally aimed to combine the quadruplex with an apartment he bought next door for $15.5 million. But he appeared to quickly pivot on those plans, listing his slice of the Upper East Side townhouse only four months after buying it.

The four floors make up more than 10,000 square feet, including five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a large chef’s kitchen and a private terrace. Richard J. Steinberg of Compass is the listing broker for the property.

Kuzmichev declined to make any political statements to Forbes Russia in the wake of the war, unlike his business partner, Ukrainian native Mikhail Fridman, who spoke out against the invasion. Forbes estimates Kuzmichev’s net worth at $6.2 billion.

[NYP] — Holden Walter-Warner