$165,000 a Month!
New York doesn't come cheap. And now Manhattan's most expensive rental apartment, the Astor Suite at The Plaza Hotel, is on the market.
By Jessica Fiur, News Editor
New York—New York doesn’t come cheap. It is, after all, the home of the $1,000 ice cream sundae at Serendipity 3. Rent is no exception, of course. And now Manhattan’s most expensive rental apartment, the Astor Suite at The Plaza Hotel, is on the market for $165,000 per month.
The Plaza, the famous New York hotel built in 1907, has an interesting historic appeal. The first guest who checked in was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and after World War II, guests such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and John F. Kennedy stayed there.
The Astor Suite, which is being sold by residential brokerage firm Prudential Douglas Elliman, encompasses 5,087 square feet and faces Central Park and Fifth Avenue.
The interior is designed by Steven Gambrel, and includes leather walls with a one-of-a-kind pattern, silk rugs and herringbone-patterned wooden floors. Additionally, there is new technology in the apartment, including a heating/cooling system for protecting artwork, a Savant system that controls everything in the apartment from an iPad, and televisions hidden behind paintings on a hydraulic lift.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Melanie Lazenby, executive vice president, Prudential Douglas Elliman, tells MHN. “If you have an open budget, you couldn’t get any better than this.”
Though New Yorkers are used to high prices, $165,000 per month is still bound to raise some eyebrows, especially for a rental. Lazenby pictures royalty or a dignitary moving in.
“It’s for people used to a certain level, but don’t want to commit to buying, but want to live in New York City for a year,” Lazenby says. “[After all,] everybody who’s anybody always comes to New York.”
Like The Plaza, Lazenby, who is also the agent for the Astor Suite, has an interesting history herself. She is the daughter of George Lazenby, an actor who played James Bond in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Does being James Bond’s daughter add to the cache of the apartment?
“I do get James Bond fans that call me,” Lazenby laughingly admits. “I don’t know if it will sell a property, but it might draw some interest. It will be interesting to see who walks through the door.”
