New York’s Plaza Hotel to be up for sale valued at $560m

The famed New York City landmark The Plaza Hotel is expected to go up for sale.

The Sahara Group, an India- based conglomerate and the hotel’s majority owner enlisted JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group, to help find a buyer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hiring a broker indicates the Sahara Group is serious about selling after several investors including celebrities and governments, have courted purchasing the property in recent years.

The grand entrance to The Plaza Hotel 

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump attend a dinner at The Plaza Hotel in 1989

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump attend a dinner at The Plaza Hotel in 1989

Majestic. The Plaza Hotel on a sunny New York City day

Majestic. The Plaza Hotel on a sunny New York City day

Qatari sovereign-wealth fund, a Shanghai municipal investment fund and Pras Michel, co-founder of the hip-hop group Fugees have expressed interest in the property. 

The hotel is estimated to be worth more than half a billion dollars, with rooms valued around $2million each.

Interested investors had gone as far as taking meetings with Sahara founder and Chairman Subrata Roy, where he was incarcerated in a jail in New Delhi- as he was serving a two-year-sentence on contempt charges. 

Actress Marilyn Monroe during a press conference, leans over a banister at the Plaza Hotel in New York City

Actress Marilyn Monroe during a press conference, leans over a banister at the Plaza Hotel in New York City

Jackie Kennedy talks to Baroness De La Bovillerie at the Wild West Ball at The Plaza

Jackie Kennedy talks to Baroness De La Bovillerie at the Wild West Ball at The Plaza

Senators Edward Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy attend Democratic National Committee Fundraising Dinner on December 10, 1967 at the Plaza Hotel

Senators Edward Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy attend Democratic National Committee Fundraising Dinner on December 10, 1967 at the Plaza Hotel

The Beatles pictured at a press Conference at their suite in The Plaza Hotel New York, 1964

The Beatles pictured at a press Conference at their suite in The Plaza Hotel New York, 1964

None of those talks moved to a sale, which left potential buyers frustrated and unsure Sahara was serious about selling, according to the WSJ.

The storied legacy of the 110-year-old hotel is rich with famous faces and dignitaries alike. 

John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monore and the Beatles have all stayed at the hotel that was also once owned by a not yet President Donald Trump. 

The 'State Room' one of the ornate meeting rooms of The Plaza Hotel

The ‘State Room’ one of the ornate meeting rooms of The Plaza Hotel

A 5th Avenue Suite at The Plaza

A 5th Avenue Suite at The Plaza

The dining room at the Plaza Hotel

The dining room at the Plaza Hotel

The Palm Court Restaurant at the Plaza Hotel

The Palm Court Restaurant at the Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel has been in countless films including Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘North by Northwest’ (1959) and was featured in the American classic novel The Great Gatsby (1925). 

Sean Hennessey, chief executive officer of Lodging Advisors, a hotel consulting company not involved in the sale, tells WSJ hiring a broker is real indication a sale is likely.

‘This suggests a commitment to consummate a transaction,’ Hennessey said. Also a broker ‘might draw people back that looked once and walked away.’

 The Plaza Hotel’s buying and selling history is as rich as its guest.

Conrad Hilton bought the Plaza Hotel for $7.4million in October 1943. 

Donald Trump purchased the Plaza in 1988 for $390million, and said of the buy: ‘I haven’t purchased a building, I have purchased a masterpiece – the Mona Lisa. For the first time in my life, I have knowingly made a deal that was not economic – for I can never justify the price I paid.’

Mosaic tiles at The Plaza

The hotel was granted landmark status by the city of New York in 1986

Mosaic tiles at The Plaza (left), the hotel was granted landmark status by the city of New York in 1986 (right)

A deal was made with the Plaza’s creditors under Trump to take a 49 per cent stake in the hotel to forgive its $250million debt and was submitted as a prepackaged bankruptcy in 1992.  

Roy and Sahara have considered offers on the Plaza over the years to raise money to pay off debtors, according to the WSJ. Roy has been out on parole since 2016. 

Owners of The Plaza Hotel  

Conrad Hilton bought the Plaza Hotel for $7.4 million in October 1943 

The Childs Company, a national restaurant chain, purchased The Plaza from Hilton on November 18, 1955 for $6.2 million in stock (equivalent of $56.6 million today).[10] 

Childs had partnered in the development of the neighboring Savoy-Plaza Hotel,[11] (now the site of the General Motors Building). 

Childs sold the Plaza to Westin Hotels in 1975 for $25 million

Westin sold The Plaza to Donald Trump for $390 million on March 27, 1988 (equivalent of $790 million today).

In 1995, CDL Hotels International and Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal purchased a controlling stake in the Plaza in a deal that valued it at $325 million (equivalent of $511 million today).

The hotel was sold in 2004 for $675 million (equivalent of $856 million today) to Israeli-owned Manhattan-based developer, El Ad Properties

El Ad bought the hotel with plans of adding residential and commercial sections. Since the Plaza Hotel is a New York landmark, Tishman Construction Corporation, the construction management company hired to complete the renovations and conversions, had to comply with landmark regulations. El Ad temporarily closed the Plaza Hotel on April 30, 2005, for extensive renovations costing $450 million. Beginning May 2005, the Plaza Hotel’s contents were available to the public via a liquidation sale.

The hotel reopened on March 1, 2008, offering 282 hotel rooms and 152 private condominium units; it is managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

On July 31, 2012, India’s business group Sahara India Pariwar agreed to buy a 75 percent controlling stake for $570 million from El Ad Properties.

In August 2014, Sahara’s Subrata Roy announced he was seeking a buyer for his company’s majority stake in the Plaza 

cool will need a small timeline box when did ivana buy it and how much then sold to home whom closed which years sold again for how much etc 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk