A Fifth Avenue co-op could become the biggest loser in New York City real estate history \u2014 and it\u2019s in a building already flooded with discounted home sales. But perhaps that\u2019s why members of Manhattan\u2019s high society are now looking to live there.<\/p>\n
A full-floor residence in the Sherry-Netherland where an alleged Chinese spy once lived<\/a> is in contract \u2014 its last asking price was $12 million. In 2015, its owner paid $67.5 million cash for it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a staggering $55.5 million loss on the unit if the deal closes for that sum.<\/p>\n The Sherry-Netherland stands on a prime stretch of Fifth Avenue. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n Another apartment that last sold for $11.1 million in 2011 is listed for $1.6 million, marking an 85.6% drop, according to StreetEasy.<\/p>\n \u201cAt these prices, the apartments are being given away,\u201d quipped one broker with listings in the building, a skip away from the posh Plaza Hotel<\/a> at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.<\/p>\n Another broker who has traded there for 20 years added: \u201cIt\u2019s getting to the point where owners are asking if they can just leave their keys at the front desk and walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n The nearly century-old building\u2019s sales prices are in freefall as its monthly maintenance fees soar to some of the highest that the city has ever seen. <\/p>\n In context, that in-contract $12 million unit comes with an extraordinary $85,654 a month in maintenance fees for the regular operation of the building. And that\u2019s on top of additional one-time \u201cassessment\u201d fees for things like fixing the building\u2019s brick exterior, or fixing the old wood-paneled elevators, brokers said.<\/p>\n Experts told Gimme Shelter that those ever-rising monthlies are having a direct impact on pricing inside the famed building, which has been home to Diana Ross<\/a>, Francis Ford Coppola<\/a> and Judge Judy Sheindlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those fees have almost doubled in the past 10 years, from $6.67 per square foot in 2016 to $12.15 in 2026, according to data compiled by appraiser Jonathan Miller, of StreetMatrix.<\/p>\n The fees also pay for hotel-style services, including daily housekeeping and evening turn-down service.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a rare perk in New York, and people really love having it.<\/p>\n Prince Lorenzo Borghese<\/a> who lived at the Sherry-Netherland for 10 years in a one-bedroom owned by his family, calls it \u201cthe most beautiful building in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my absolute favorite building,\u201d the reality star and entrepreneur told Gimme Shelter. \u201cThe staff is the nicest and most professional. It\u2019s not a regular apartment. They really take care of you.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThere are fresh new sheets every day and fresh towels. They take care of everything, even the toilet paper. I never had to buy a roll of toilet paper or towels the entire time I lived there,\u201d Borghese said.<\/p>\n Still, it all comes at a price.<\/p>\n Miller puts the Sherry-Netherland in an elite class of co-op buildings with hotel-like services that includes the Pierre at 795 Fifth Ave. and the Carlyle<\/a>, at 35 E. 76th St. Miller found that The Carlyle has the highest monthly maintenance fees, at $18.53 per square foot, followed by the Sherry-Netherland.<\/p>\n And soon, the latter will get its newest resident.<\/p>\n Guo Wengui\u2019s unit stands to sell for a breathtaking discount. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n Now a shell, his unit at one time featured ornate moldings and beamed ceilings. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n The dining room as it once stood. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n The chef\u2019s kitchen, where he prepped noodle dishes for his guests. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n He had plenty of room for lounging and entertaining guests. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n The $12 million unit belongs to jailed Chinese national Guo Wengui<\/a>, who is also known by names including Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Kwok.<\/p>\n His unit is held through shell companies and is now being sold by a bankruptcy trustee to pay some of the roughly $374 million in debts Guo listed when he filed for bankruptcy in 2022.<\/p>\n Guo, a onetime ally and business associate of Steve Bannon<\/a>, was charged in 2023 with defrauding investors of more than $1.3 billion for varying media and crypto scams. In June, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted in July 2024 on nine of 12 counts, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Guo, currently held at a low-security prison in Danbury, Conn., maintains his innocence and appealed his conviction and sentence in July. His lawyer, Melinda Sarafa, declined to comment.<\/p>\n In 2018, Guo gave Gimme Shelter a tour<\/a> of the sprawling property. The 7,000-square-foot apartment was impressive, with lots of wood paneling, terraces with extraordinary views of Central Park, and a chef\u2019s kitchen where Guo enjoyed cooking up noodle dishes for his American guests. Sources said it\u2019s the second largest unit in the building.<\/p>\n Michael Eisner is a recent buyer in the building. Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n Actress Marlo Thomas is also a new owner at the Sherry-Netherland. Getty Images<\/p>\n Miller told Gimme Shelter the Guo apartment sale, if it closes, \u201cwill be the largest loss on an individual residential sale on record in New York City. Nothing comes close to $50 million.\u201d<\/p>\n The apartment\u2019s listing broker, Douglas Elliman\u2019s Sabrina Saltiel, declined to comment.<\/p>\n Broker Jenny Lenz, of Dolly Lenz Real Estate, who has many clients in the building, and whose mother Dolly once had Guo as a client, said that the apartment \u201chas been gutted to its shell, and restoring it will require an extraordinary investment on top of maintenance approaching $100,000 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet, the low prices and a billionaires\u2019 war over the fate of the nearby Pierre, as Gimme Shelter exclusively reported<\/a>, may have finally kickstarted renewed interest in the building, and buyers are slowly returning.<\/p>\n The latest is former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who paid $10 million off-market<\/a> for a unit sold by a trust tied to the late billionaire Eli Broad. <\/p>\n