The first and most outraged of the high-profile early buyers wishing to back out of the newly renovated Plaza penthouse apartments has reached a "favorable" (for him) settlement with the developers. Last September, Andrei Vavilov sued El-Ad, the company that had sold him two apartments for a whopping $53.5 million. After Vavilov put up a down payment, he (and more important, his younger actress wife) saw the place and hated it. He sought the return of his money, and El-Ad sued him right back, as one does, mostly because they claimed he and his wife were being petty.

But now everything's ended happily, and someone else will be able to live in that spectacular "attic-like" triplex apartment with allegedly tiny windows, obstructed views, visible air conditioners, low ceilings, and ugly drainage gates. The Plaza is in the clear now!

Plaza and Penthouse Buyer Settle Dispute [City Room/NYT]