A Sneak Peek Into the Plaza Hotel's Luxury Apartments

Sept. 4, 2007 — -- The scaffolding is coming down, the shrouds are being lifted. Almost 100 years after the Plaza Hotel first set the standard for all others, the great landmark is about to reopen. A city at the apex has a new way to experience the meaning of wealth and this time you can own a piece of it.

ABCNEWS.com had an exclusive tour of the $400 million renovation.

Click here for a virtual tour of the Plaza.

Since its debut in 1907, the Plaza has had many owners, notably Donald Trump. It was sold to Elad Properties in 2004 for $675 million and the space was deemed too valuable to maintain as a hotel only. Elad's president, Miki Naftali, decided to transform the property and its equally famed ballroom and dining rooms into a combination of hotel rooms and private residences.

While the hotel still has a ways to go before it starts welcoming guests, 90 percent of the residences have already been spoken for, according to Lloyd Kaplan, the spokesman for Elad.

Apartment prices range from $2.5 million to "well north" of $45 million, said Kaplan.

According to public property records, one buyer identified only as Plaza 7 Apartment LLC purchased six units for a little less than $56 million. The most expensive apartment ever? Don't hold your breath.

The new residents of the Plaza apartments are a diverse crowd. While 65 percent come from the United States — mainly from the New York metro region — others are natives of places such as Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The two apartments ABC News toured were worth $7 million and $12.5 million respectively and had both already been purchased.

Upon opening the apartment's castle-like front door, guests are immediately taken aback by the sprawling floor plan that resembles little of what an average person would expect in a typical one-bedroom apartment.

The first apartment visited was a 1,200-square-foot one-bedroom, with 1½ bathrooms, a kitchen that seemed to have miles of counter space, along with a dining room, living room and a wide hallway leading to the bedroom.

Ceiling heights range from 9.5 feet to 14 feet, but the windows remain at the original dimensions from 1907 and actually appear quite small compared with the rest of the large apartment. Contractors were prohibited from changing the size of the windows because the facade of the Plaza is a city landmark.

All of the model apartments in the building were furnished by Versace Home. There are lots of elegant white and cream accents; the immaculate detail is evident right down to the scrupulously polished knives and forks on the beautifully arranged dining room table.

Taking the Plaza lifestyle into a new age, each apartment is equipped with Concierge Direct, a small computer screen that allows tenants to control, well, just about anything.

Upon arriving at the airport from a long trip, residents can call into their Concierge Direct and change the temperature in their apartment to ensure it's not too hot or too cold when they arrive home.