NYC apartment goes for $50M

Though the Plaza is still six months away from its grand reopening, an apartment in the fabled hotel has been reportedly sold for more than $50 million - the highest price ever for a flat in NYC.

The New York Observer, quoting real estate sources, said the price easily tops hedge fund manager (holla) Daniel Loeb's $45 million for a penthouse at 15 Central Park West.

A spokesman for Plaza developer El-Ad Properties said he "could neither confirm nor deny" the Observer report. Oh, shut up.

The Plaza, subject of a score of movies (not to mention the popular Eloise stories), has been a New York institution since 1907.

In August 2004, El-Ad properties, headed by Israeli-born developer Miki Naftali, bought the hotel for $675 million, closed it and announced it would spend another $400 million to refurnish it.

When it reopens in October '07, as a combined hotel, condominium and apartment complex, the new Plaza will have 182 private condos, 130 hotel rooms and 152 units that owners must live in three months out of the year if they want to rent them out.

As of 2004, the marketing plan called for condos to sell for up to $32.5 million. But prices have continued to skyrocket as New York's real estate boom shows no signs of abating, despite a stagnating national housing picture, according to the Real Estate Board of New York.