UPDATED, July 18, 2019, 8:15 a.m.: The owner of the Plaza Hotel’s triplex penthouse is upsizing.
The anonymous investor — who scooped up the 6,300-square-foot aerie from developer Christian Candy for $32.7 million in 2017 — just shelled out another $29 million for a duplex several floors below it, records show. The signatory on the seller’s entity appears to be Jose Antonio Perez Helguera, managing director of Miami-based Agave Holdings. The LLC is tied to Juan Beckmann Vida, Mexican billionaire and majority owner of José Cuervo. He purchased the unit for $22.9 million in 2008.
Combined, the two units span more than 10,000 square feet. According to filings with the city, the buyer — shielded by a shell company dubbed PH 2003 Unit LLC — obtained a $27 million mortgage from Maxim Credit Group. The loan covers both units and was signed by Duo Liu.
The newly-acquired duplex spans 3,974-square-feet with another 480 square feet of terrace space. After Helguera purchased it in 2008, the penthouse underwent a “floor-to-ceiling renovation, taking many years to perfect,” according to a listing provided by Sotheby’s International Realty’s Elizabeth Sample and Brenda Powers. The condo was originally listed last year asking $34.95 million.
It’s unclear if and how the two units will be physically combined.
Before being purchased by its current owner, the Plaza’s triplex penthouse lingered on the market for several years.
Candy originally listed the 6,300-square-foot condo for $59 million in 2013. After several price chops and broker swaps, the unit sold for $32.7 million. The developer of London’s One Hyde Park paid $25.92 million for the pad in 2012. It was formerly owned by Russian oligarch Andrei Vavilov, who compared it to an “attic.”
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that Jose Antonio Perez Helguera, managing director of Miami-based Agave Holdings, was the signatory for Juan Beckmann Vidal. Beckmann Vidal was the seller of the unit.