The living room of the Kogans’ Plaza combo unit, as shown in listing photos, was expensively renovated with gold leaf and onyx but sold for less than what they paid in 2007.
Photo: Compass
A lavish five-bedroom apartment at the Plaza with ornate gold detailing has sold for $21 million, according to city records — $5 million less than a company linked to Russian airport billionaires Valery Kogan and his wife, Olga, paid in 2007. The Kogans, who bought two units from the developer Elad and combined them into a regal spread that incorporates one of the hotel’s turrets, first listed the apartment for $45 million in 2020. It’s yet another money-losing resale for the fabled hotel, which has seen a number of high-profile flops. (Tommy Hilfiger and London-based ultraluxury-real-estate developers the Candy brothers, who both undertook penthouse renovations estimated to cost tens of millions, resold their units for just a few million over what they paid for them after years on the market — in Hilfiger’s case, it took 11 years.)
The Kogans went on a buying spree in the greater New York area in the mid-aughts, snapping up not only the Plaza apartment but also a $22.7 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West in 2008, a $16.1 million duplex at 515 Park Avenue in 2004, and a Greenwich mansion they paid $18.5 million for in 2005. The couple also owned studio or one-bedroom staff apartments at all of their Manhattan condos. But after the COVID pandemic began, they commenced a massive sell-off, listing not only all of their New York properties but also a number of over-the-top homes in Israel. The New York Post previously reported that Kogan, who was once said to have close ties to Vladimir Putin, has been at odds with the Russian government over ownership of the Domodedovo Airport, an international airport near Moscow — in January, Russian prosecutors filed a case against Kogan and his partner, claiming they failed to renationalize the airport’s holding company.
The Russian billionaires decorated the apartment with ornate finishes and furniture, as shown in listing photos, which may not have been to all buyers’ taste. But resales at the building have done badly overall.
Photo: Compass
The Plaza apartment, which has often been described as Versailles-like, is 5,302 square feet with five bedrooms, three-plus baths, Central Park views, and crystal chandeliers. It was certainly renovated to their particular, ostentatious tastes: Beyond the chandeliers and gold molding, the primary bath is swathed in floor-to-ceiling onyx. It was last asking $23 million. Last fall, this and the 15 Central Park West penthouse were facing foreclosure over an overdue loan. In November, however, the 15 Central Park West apartment, done in the same over-the-top gilded fashion, went into contract, according to the Post. (The Post also reported that the buyer wanted to keep the décor and had gone so far as to purchase the furniture as part of the sale; it’s unclear if that was included in the final sales price.) Records show it ultimately sold for $33.91 million — a tidy profit on the 2008 price, though far less than the $65 million it first listed for in 2023. In March, the Post reported that the couple had also found a buyer for the Plaza apartment. The buyer, according to records, is hidden behind an LLC named after the address.
One of the 5,302-square-foot apartment’s ornate bathrooms, as shown in listing photos, with marble inlays. Another has floor-to-ceiling onyx.
Photo: Compass
It definitely looks as though cash, not real estate, is what the Kogans are after at the moment. With the Plaza sale, it’s adding up to a total of about $80 million. Last year, the couple sold their 515 Park duplex for $14.5 million, and this year the Greenwich house went for $10.4 million. In 2008, the couple caused an uproar in the Connecticut town with plans to demolish the 19,000-square-foot mansion on the site and replace it with a 27,000-square-foot mansion with a theater, gym, and 28 bathrooms, to be used primarily as a weekend getaway for their 26-year-old son. (The town shot the plans down and ultimately approved a scaled-back renovation of the existing home.) The couple also recently sold a penthouse in Israel and listed the $250 million estate they own there that is modeled after both Versailles and the White House (although with Donald Trump’s second-term décor blitz, the distinction between the two is becoming less clear).