$25 million apartment
“Have you ever been in a $25,000,000 apartment? Neither do I, but today I managed to visit. He translated the price at the current rate into rubles and finally went nuts. An apartment for 960 million rubles. How do you like that? I looked at it carefully, but to be honest, I didn’t understand anything at all. He imagined everything except what he saw. It seemed to me that an apartment for that kind of money was something out of the realm of dreams. Walk into one and fall in love forever. And it will be so good that you won’t be able to return home to your cramped kennel. The reality turned out to be somewhat different,” says samsebeskazal.
Dima newyorkrealty calls me today and says: I'm going to the Plaza, look at apartments overlooking Central Park, are you with me? I don't need to repeat the tags "Plaza" and "Central Park" twice. I ran out of the house before I hung up the phone. My interest in this case is purely research and photographic. There are places in New York where you just can't visit. And Plaza is one of them.
1. A brief historical background, so that you understand what is at stake. The Plaza is a hotel built in 1907 at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. And not just a hotel, but one of the most famous in New York. Many famous people have stayed at the Plaza. For example, the Beatles lived there during their first visit to the United States in 1964. You must have seen the hotel in the movie Home Alone 2. The hero of Macaulay Culkin, who got lost in New York, lived in the Plaza. In the lobby, he met the then owner of the hotel, Donald Trump. But Macaulay Culkin, the owner, and the hotel itself have changed since then.
2. In 2004, Trump divorced his wife and put his Mona Lisa (as he called the Plaza) up for sale. The Israeli company El Ad Properties purchased the hotel for $675 million. In 2005, the Plaza was closed for renovation and three years later it opened its doors, forever ceasing to be the Plaza that it used to be. Now it is half a hotel and half a prestigious residential building with 152 apartments. Different entrances were arranged for hotel guests and apartment owners, and since then you can get into its residential part only at the invitation of one of the residents. They won't let you in further than the lobby.
3. The photo shows the entrance to the hotel.
Could I miss the opportunity to go where you can not go? Of course not. Moreover, the program included a light buffet and viewing of three apartments for sale, including one penthouse with views of Central Park. This option is of particular interest to me. But then everything went wrong. For some reason, the open house (this is the name of the process of showing apartments to potential buyers) with a buffet was canceled. As a result, we were shown only one apartment with an area of 397 square meters and a cost of $25,000,000. There is a story about her.
4. Hall for permanent residents of the Plaza. You can’t take pictures there (a shout from the concierge immediately follows). The entrance to the apartment is behind me. It has a separate entrance from the lobby, although it is located on the second floor. In order to get into it, you need to climb a long staircase or take a personal elevator.
In 2011, Igor Krutoy bought an apartment on the 12th floor of the Plaza for $48 million. This information immediately pops up as soon as you say that you are from Russia. Moreover, according to the manager who drove us, he does not live in it, but only stops during his visits to New York. I'm always surprised by these things, especially when looking at monthly expenses and taxes. Of course, you can buy something, but then you can keep it ...
5. This is the living room. The apartment is being sold fully furnished. Although I immediately have a question: why do you need someone else's furniture if you have a lot of money? I didn't like the layout or the interior at all. And this is even though I don't have 25 million.
6. This is a $25,000,000 view. To be honest, it looks like it. Those who live in New York imagine what kind of noise there is outside the window.
7. Another angle. The living room is large but not huge.
8. It is made of two levels.
9. You need to climb the stairs in the corridor, and you will find yourself in the dining area.
10. Top view.
11. Bathroom for guests. There are four and a half bathrooms in total. The one in the photo is just half-hearted - without a bath.
12. This is a bedroom. There are three in total. Two, apparently, guest and one host. Let's just say it's a weird design.
13. Beds. It looks and feels more like a hotel room.
14. View from the window. He came out in shorts in the morning and surprised everyone. The window is also interesting.
15. Well, you can’t live on a busy street with such a view from the window. For $25 million, that's for sure.
16. A bathroom in this bedroom. The second room is almost the same, only slightly larger, and the bathroom has a bathtub instead of a shower.
17. Corridor. Downstairs is the front door.
18. There is an office in the corridor. I don’t understand why three bedrooms were made, but the study is in the corridor? Who do you have to be to live like this? Rent out rooms to tourists?
19. Master bedroom.
20. Why there are so many sofas in it, I still don’t understand. For evening intimate conversations with your wife?
21. View from the bed. Soundproofing is made on five plus, but you can still hear the street. How to sleep there, I do not really understand.
22. Master bathroom.
23. And the door to the dressing room.
24. This is a narrow room filled with shelves and cabinets.
25. Somewhere there are someone's things. I still don’t understand: this is for demonstration or someone lives there.
26. We return to the corridor and go to the kitchen.
27. The kitchen in the photo looks nothing, but in the description of the agent it is just perfection itself, but in fact you want to break it down and throw it away (as, indeed, everything else). Freshness does not blow from her, as, indeed, from the rest of the apartment too. Those. everything is not that killed, but obviously not new. Although, maybe this is such a style - Scandinavian. But then it is not clear why you pay 25 million.
28. There are also no windows in the kitchen, which makes the atmosphere a bit claustrophobic. It starts to feel like you're in a bunker. It’s also funny that there are tanks in the lockers, and food in the refrigerator, which once again confirmed my guess that someone lives in the apartment.
29. And this is a very wonderful room.
30. This is a nursery. And just for four children. There are also no windows. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a prison and a submarine at the same time.
31. There is also a room with a washing machine and a dryer (clothing hints again), but it is unlikely to change the general attitude towards the apartment.
32. Plan of apartments, if interested. After viewing and my criticisms, Dima concluded: this apartment is still nothing, I have seen worse for that kind of money. The money really isn't all that big for New York. Regarding other expensive apartments, of course.
Link to the seller's website, so you don't think I came up with something.
At my request, Dima sent additional information about this apartment.
Monthly payments: $5,500 maintenance fee $5901 - property tax. Those. only $11,401 per month.
I was also wondering how much agents earn on such a deal. Here is what he writes: “The seller side offers 2.5% to the buyer’s agent, most likely the seller’s agent also takes 2.5%. Those. the current owner of the apartment will pay a total commission of 5%, or $1,250,000, which will be divided equally between the agents of the two parties."
This is such real estate. This is such a crazy market. If I had that much money, I definitely would not have bought this apartment. It is still somehow possible to consider it as an office, but it definitely does not pull on normal housing. Especially for housing worth $25 million. But that's my opinion, yours may be different. Feel free to write whatever you think in the comments.