The Plaza Hotel is closing its doors for at least four years.<\/p>\n
The 119-year-old Fifth Avenue landmark will shut down in January so crews can restore its historic exterior, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced Wednesday. The job could keep the famed hotel dark until 2031.<\/p>\n
Fairmont has stayed mum on what the work involves, how much it will cost and whether anyone living in the building\u2019s 181 condos will be forced to clear out. The hotel\u2019s 282 rooms, the Palm Court and its event spaces will all close during the restoration.<\/p>\n
According to a statement from Plaza management:<\/a> the timeline estimated is \u201cdue to the complexity of this undertaking and significant intrusion to operations.\u201d<\/p>\n The Plaza Hotel is shutting down for at least four years starting in January, and condo owners hoping to cash out are in for a rough ride. LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The Plaza\u2019s big shocker however, wasn\u2019t so shocking to the people who live there.<\/p>\n Condo owners at the Fifth Avenue icon were in the loop for months about the hotel\u2019s coming marathon shutdown, well before the news broke out to the rest of the world this week, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n \u201cThe residents have known about this for many, many months now,\u201d Corcoran broker Kane Manera, who has two penthouse listings in the building, told The Post.<\/p>\n Manera said he first heard about the plan \u201cearly this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced Wednesday that the 119-year-old Fifth Avenue landmark will close for a sweeping facade restoration that could keep it dark until 2031. NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n Douglas Elliman\u2019s Michael Passaro said owners he works with went straight to building staff once word got out. \u201cThey had confirmed with the doorman and management that residents will continue to live there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Owners come and go through their own entrance on the 58th Street side, cut off from the hotel.<\/p>\n \u201cThe residential lobby is in a completely different space to the hotel,\u201d Manera said.<\/p>\n What residents do lose is the glamour. The Palm Court, the hotel\u2019s event spaces and the white-glove perks that come with living above one of the planet\u2019s best-known hotels will all vanish for the duration. Scaffolding is also likely to wrap the building\u2019s marble and brick facade for years.<\/p>\n Residents of its 181 condos won\u2019t be forced out, according to brokers with clients in the building, but they\u2019ll lose the Palm Court and other hotel perks while living behind years of scaffolding. REUTERS<\/p>\n Buyer\u2019s market<\/p>\n The bigger fallout may be on the sales floor, where The Plaza was already a tough sell.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s 29 units currently on the market and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a few shadow inventory that\u2019s not yet listed,\u201d Passaro said.<\/p>\n He closed a $10.625 million deal in the building in February 2025, and said the sale came with a cloud hanging over it. \u201cI think there have been rumors for the last couple years that this might happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat person who purchased that apartment actually has it back on the market for sale,\u201d Passaro said, noting the buyer relisted roughly a year after closing. \u201cI don\u2019t know if [the shutdown] played into their decision at all, but it\u2019s gonna be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Dana Geiser teaches students about wine etiquette during a business etiquette class taught by Myka Meier at The Plaza Hotel in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. Zandy Mangold\/NY Post<\/p>\n Brokers say owners got wind of the plan early this year, months before the public announcement. Selling now looks like an uphill battle. Getty Images for The New York Botanical Garden<\/p>\n Now bargain hunters smell blood.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is going to be difficult to sell in the building over the next couple years,\u201d Passaro said. \u201cNegotiability, I think it\u2019s just gone up for anybody that\u2019s looking possibly to purchase in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n He expects nearby trophy towers along Billionaires\u2019 Row and Central Park South to scoop up shoppers who\u2019d rather skip the hard hats. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think many people are gonna be too thrilled about going to look at the Plaza in the near future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The building has already seen some painful exits. Russian billionaires Valery and Olga Kogan offloaded their roughly 5,000-square-foot spread last year for $21 million<\/a> while facing foreclosure, about 45% below their original $38 million ask. They recently listed their Plaza hotel penthouse <\/a>for $45 million. Smucker\u2019s heir Tim Smucker took a haircut on a one-bedroom he sold at auction.<\/p>\n Owners also face a second renovation problem that Fairmont\u2019s facade fix won\u2019t touch. Many units date to the mid-2000s condo conversion and need serious updating, and that bill lands on individual owners, not the hotel.<\/p>\n Douglas Elliman\u2019s Michael Passaro says 29 units are already listed and buyers are gaining leverage, adding that \u201cit\u2019s gonna be tough.\u201d vacant \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The long game<\/p>\n Still, both brokers argue the patient money wins.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a blip in the ocean, at least from where I stand,\u201d Manera said, pointing out that most Plaza buyers plan to stay put far longer than four years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is that buildings need maintenance, they need care, they need upkeep. And if they don\u2019t get them, then they fall into disrepair,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Once the scaffolding comes down, Manera predicts a rush.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce people experience The Plaza in its renovated format, it\u2019s going to be a slingshot for sales,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Passoro agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s a short-term inconvenience for a long-term gain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Plaza Hotel is seen from the presidential suite at the Pierre Hotel in New York, Friday, Nov. 14, 2014. The presidential suite rents for $500,000 a month. Chad Rachman\/NY Post<\/p>\n A conch shell sits in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Former event planner Eever Norman, who became homeless and wanted by police for selling methamphetamine, used to hide and sleep in the hotel\u2019s hidden rooms before being arrested for stealing. Helayne Seidman for NY Post<\/p>\n Corcoran\u2019s Kane Manera sees a silver lining, predicting the revamp will be \u201ca slingshot for sales\u201d once the work is done. REUTERS<\/p>\n Both brokers said they hope the work eventually revives the beloved underground food hall, which has sat dark for years and remains a sore point for buyers.<\/p>\n The Plaza\u2019s 378 union workers will be allowed back at the same pay when it reopens, according to the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council, which says it will try to place them elsewhere in the meantime.<\/p>\n Until then, New Yorkers and tourists have one final holiday season to get their fix, whether that\u2019s tea at the Palm Court or a night in the pink Eloise Suite, which runs north of $4,000.<\/p>\n \u201cShort term, there may be a little bit of pain, but long term, it\u2019s going to be a gain, not just for the residents and the hotel guests, but for all of New York City,\u201d Manera said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Plaza Hotel is closing its doors for at least four years. 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