Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 19-story hotel on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South in Manhattan, currently closed and undergoing renovations. Its main entrance faces the southern portion of Grand Army Plaza— commemorating the Army of the Union in the Civil War. Grand Army Plaza is in two sections, bisected by Central Park South. The section in front of the Plaza Hotel is centered by the Pulitzer Fountain, of Abundance by Karl Bitter, funded by the will of the newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer: the statue in the fountain is actually Pomona, Roman goddess of fruits and nuts. The north side of Grand Army Plaza, a cutout from Central Park, has the glorious Augustus Saint-Gaudens part-gilded bronze equestrian statue of General Sherman. Grand Army Plaza provided the original main entrance to the carriage drives of Central Park.

Recent history

Donald Trump bought the Plaza for $407½ million in 1988. Trump commented on his purchase in a full-page open letter he had published in The New York Times:

Related Topics:
Donald Trump - 1988 - The New York Times

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: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, no matter how successful the Plaza becomes.

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Trump sold it for $325 million in 1995 to a partnership between Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. They sold it in 2004 for $675 million to Elad Properties, an Israeli development group. The Plaza closed on April 30, 2005, to undergo extensive renovation, converting all but about 150 of the rooms into condominiums and retail stores.

Related Topics:
1995 - Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - Millennium & Copthorne Hotels - 2004 - Elad Properties - April 30 - 2005

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