Mack Daddy Sinking Large Fortune Into Plaza

1.

I am sorry but where the FUCK do these people get this kind of money.

I mean great and kudos and warm fuzzies and stuff but it is kinda just not right.

2.

And this bullshit is remotely relevant to any of your readers how?

3.

this is pretty sad
used to be that anyone who wanted to spring for it could spend a night at the plaza...

now it will all be some dweeb's trophy apt

the plaza has every right to do this i suppose, and he has every right to buy it up...but c'mon

4.

Is there anything you all do not lament? I am all for warm and fuzzy feelings of old New York, but making a dark wood paneled old lady high tea hotel into condos is not anything I will spend a lot of time thinking about. Someone should do the same to the Waldorf - it is a horrible venue.

I am not sure home many every day Joes were dropping $500 a night for a sojourn into Manhattan. The place was full of business folks and Europeans, and owned by Saudis, and then Israelis for a decade. Not exactly NY-huggers.

And, $60MM is one year's income for these folks. This means no more to them than buying a studion in LIC might mean to you.

5.

#4 great dude I am proud he pisses money and you support that.

I am not upset these people make a large amount of money, but just commenting on dropping $60 million for a place to live seems a bit obsurd.

6.

Let's see, Harry bought the GM Building for $1.4 billion with no money down and just refinanced it for $1.8 billion...guess he has some extra coin burning his pocket.

7.

How did Maclowe get so much money, you ask?
Harry Macklowe earned his wealth through ruthlessness, greed and illegal actions.

Many of you newcomers may not know but Macklowe is notorious for demolishing a property of his in the middle of the night against existing City law.

From the NY Times:
"Harry Macklowe bulldozed his way to notoriety one night in January 1985 when a demolition crew destroyed single-room-occupancy hotels on a building site he owned just off Times Square. Mr. Macklowe, a big developer, planned to build a luxury hotel there, but would have been stymied by a city moratorium on tearing down S.R.O.

It was a beautiful building but this guy thinks he is above the law. A pig from Hell!

8.

Is there anything that you do lament #4? Some of us feel that a physical structure becomes more than just a building with walls and floors- ever thought about that?. It's human nature to miss the things we've been accustomed to, and that would include for some of us an "old lady high tea hotel". I am so sick and tired of this NYC attitude of "just get it out of the way, get over it, it's not that important, more condos needed". If a culture doesn't value and respect it's past, that's usually a good predicator of it's future. The present mentality here is not endemic to the city itself, as proved by it's past and present regard for landmarking and preservation- it's the product of the current crop of mindless automatons who would probably just assume that all of Central Park was turned into a gated luxury community.

9.

How sad, millions of New Yorkers live in closet type housing and this guy gets to have almost a whole floor in a landamrk building. World of unfairness. I need to move to Russia.

10.

#2 Get the fuck off the boards. This is relevant because it is the zeneth of world real estate.

I can't believe you're so low in life that you'd hate on such an incredible man.

11.

harry is indeed ruthless and greedy, but he is also one of the best commercial landlords in the city (ask around).

He bought the GM Building for $1.4 million. 9 out of 10 real estate people would have told you he was crazy at the time. the building is probably valued today between $2.5 and $2.8 billion, due to both the market (it was an impeccably timed investment) and his work on the building (apple store anyone?).

you can hate him for being ruthless and greedy and breaking the rules 22 years ago, or you can admire some of the recent investments. or you can do neither, and just roll with it. everybody's entitled to their opinion.

12.

by the way, with all the grousing on this board for the "good old days" of NYC of graffiti and crack and murders and seediness (and vibrancy and realness and excitement, etc., etc.), i find it a little hypocritical to bash one crime while embracing others.

i would argue tearing down buildings in the middle of the night very much fit into "the old new york" that everybody seems to hold in such high regard.

13.

Pollock, surely you don't mean that, do you? I'm guessing you're talking about the good old days when Russia was aka Soviet Union. Certainly 99% of housing (in Moscow) was rent controlled and reasonably affordable, but it was virtually impossible for an outsider to move there. People jumped through all kinds of hoops (marriage, bribes, etc) to live in one of those closet-type apartments. Ours was a 500 sq. ft. 1-bedroom for a family of four and we weren't allowed to get something else since it was over the 4-person minumum by about 5 sq. ft. Naturally, due to absense of market forces nobody was in any rush to build more, or for that matter, better. Let's not forget waiting 10 years for a phone line and that smaller cities/towns did not have running hot water 24/7. You get the picture. Of course, you still had that 1% who lived much, much better (high-ranking officials, bribes, co-op buildings, maybe luck). That kind of socialism is just not the answer.

14.

Is the area a good area or is it seedy and edgy? What's the possibility of the city building a housing project across the street and blocking the view? I would also like to know what the maintenance is on the space before I jump in and spend that kind of money.

15.

#14 = best curbed post ever

16.

Because in spite of the crime and seediness, it had a personality. No one, including myself, that I know holds crime in high regard. Now we have the new and improved product referred to as NYC- much needed I might add, but handled by people who really have no regard for the character and uniqueness that have always distinguished us from other large cities.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people feel the need to create a parallel relationship between change and gentrification without any distinction between the two, without recognizing that it can be done a great deal less gratuitously.

17.

yeah no shit - all you need to do is walk down michigan ave or newbury street to see that nyc has turned into one booooooring generic version of every other city in america. sad.

and the comment about illegally razing buildings fitting into nyc old skool was SPOT ON.

-yo

18.

Poster #11 is dead on.
None of us has the power to change time and influence. I toast the individual who is able to own the priciest Commercial AND Residential property in New York City.

19.

Nola: The GM Building is worth so much today because it is in a great location and the office market has a vacancy level unheard of in the post-war era.

If Harry is such a great landlord, why don't you find out where he keeps his office? The man doesn't even have an office in one of his own buildings.

He is one of the most loathsome men alive, and if there is a hell he will rot in it.

20.

since when did people at curbed become communists? Harry earned his fortune and he can spend it as he wants. He is also one of the city's largest philanthropists but for some reason that is not being mentioned here.

also, post #19 is dumb - Harry's office is in the gm building. do your research

21.

Maclowe a philanthropist #20?

I give over 10% of my annual earnings to charity. When I do it, you call it a tax write-off.
When pig Macklowe does it, you call him a philanthropist.

Get the f*ck outta here!

22.

I bet he doesnt even give close to 10% of his wealth to charity.

23.

What about toasting the Plaza itself?

Why the fuck can't we build buildings that look like that anymore????

At some point society had the ability to produce greatness. Somehow we've lost that ability and every incredibly rich individual who can afford it is trying to get a piece of what once was.

24.

There really should be a tax on huge apartment sales like these. Something like one $500k apartment for a family earning

25.

hahahaha why is everyone one curbed so bitter?

26.

Macklowe should have to give 95% of the money he earns to orphans because he should be punished for being so successful and doing what people on curbed can only dream of doing

27.

he bought a home that smells like horse dung everytime he steps outside?