Plaza, penthouse buyer reach agreement

Those Plaza fans who closely track the comings and goings of luminaries who stay and live at the renovated hotel and condo should take note. The building has reached a resolution with one of its disgruntled penthouse buyers.

The buyer, Andrei Vavilov, a Russian financier and a former Russian deputy finance minister, reached a settlement with the building’s developer, El-Ad Properties, about his purchase of two penthouse units for $53.5 million.

His lawyer, Y. David Scharf, did not provide more details about the resolution — which was reached on Tuesday — but stressed that it was favorable. Records tracked by StreetEasy.com show that no buyers closed on these units.

“We are very pleased with the outcome,” Mr. Scharf said.

Last September, Mr. Vavilov drew some notice when he sued El-Ad over fraud and breach of contract claims.

According to court records, the two penthouses he had bought and planned to combine did not offer the ceiling heights and views he expected when he bought the units site unseen. In fact, he was so disappointed that the lawsuit compares the penthouses to “glorified attic space.”

But El-Ad fired back with a countersuit claiming the buyer had made “defamatory and untrue” statements about the developer and called the lawsuit a “sham,” court records show.

In fact, court records say that Mr. Vavilov did not complain about the units until his wife — the Russian actress Maryana Tsaregradskaya — saw them.

On June 26, 2008, the records say, Mr. Vavilov had walked through the apartments with two El-Ad employees and made no complaints about the units. When he took Ms. Tsaregradskaya through the apartments, she said “they were simply not large enough for her tastes.” She told El-Ad employees she wanted to have “the biggest apartment at the Plaza” and asked whether she could purchase another penthouse that was under contract. Through the summer, the couple called several times to see about buying more penthouse units.

El-Ad declined to offer more details about the settlement terms. But Lloyd Kaplan, a spokesman representing El-Ad, called the resolution amicable and “on terms acceptable to both parties.” He added, “We believe it is a positive resolution and we are very pleased with the terms.”