Exclusive | Plaza Hotel to close for four years as broker warns selling there is gonna be tough
Eloise isn’t the only one who kept a Plaza secret.The Plaza’s big shocker wasn’t so shocking to the people who live there.Condo owners at the Fifth Avenue icon were in the loop for months about the hotel’s coming marathon shutdown, well before Fairmont Hotels & Resorts broke the news to the rest of the world this week, The Post has learned.“The residents have known about this for many, many months now,” Corcoran broker Kane Manera, who has two penthouse listings in the building, told The Post.Manera said he first heard about the plan “early this year.”Fairmont revealed Wednesday that the 119-year-old landmark will go dark in January so crews can restore its storied exterior, a job expected to take at least four years and possibly stretch into 2031.
According to a statement from Plaza management: the timeline estimated is “due to the complexity of this undertaking and significant intrusion to operations.”The operator has stayed mum on what the work involves, how much it will cost and whether anyone living in the building’s 181 condos will be forced to clear out.Brokers with clients inside say the answer is no.Douglas Elliman’s Michael Passoro said owners he works with went straight to building staff once word got out.“They had confirmed with the doorman and management that residents will continue to live there,” he said.Owners come and go through their own entrance on the 58th Street side, cut off from the hotel.“The residential lobby is in a completely different space to the hotel,” Manera said.What residents do lose is the glamour.
The Palm Court, the hotel’s event spaces and the white-glove perks that come with living above one of the planet’s best-known hotels will all vanish for the duration.Scaffolding is also likely to wrap the building’s marble and brick facade for years.The bigger fallout may be on the sales floor, where The Plaza was already a tough sell.“I think there’s 29 units currently on the market and I...