NEW YORK—When an Israeli billionaire bought New York's storied Plaza Hotel for $675 million, he envisioned turning the plucky grande dame with the globally recognized name into mainly a luxury condo tower that would cater to the world's wealthiest buyers and offer stores to satisfy their every desire.

But six years later, with the city in an acute recession, the grandest aims of the new owner, Isaac Tshuva, and the excitement of the new Plaza's first residents seem to have dimmed, according to sales data.

The last 11 owners to sell their luxury condos at the Plaza Hotel sold them at a loss, including the owner of Apartment 409, which sold for $8.5 million less than it cost 16 months before.

The Plaza's underground luxury stores are struggling to attract shoppers, and one expert broker is consequently advising clients not to take space there.

And this spring, steps below where F. Scott Fitzgerald found his muse for “;The Great Gatsby,”; the hotel is opening an upscale food court offering burgers and pizza. The Palm Court, the Plaza's famous restaurant, has been closed.

“;It's gone from being a landmark to being just a building,”; Clark Wolf, an independent restaurant consultant, said of the situation. “;In an era without a Tavern on the Green or a Cafe des Artistes, we need something. New York City is screaming for a landmark.”;

But the 102-year-old Plaza still has some cachet. To many New Yorkers and tourists, the Plaza is still the place where Eloise, the fictional 6-year-old, treats the hotel as her playground, and Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman share late-afternoon drinks at the Oak Bar. And the Plaza's overall financial picture means little to prospective brides: The Grand Ballroom is still booked every Saturday night in May.

In the heady first couple of years after Tshuva acquired the Plaza in 2004, he reaped the rewards of a real estate boom. After a $450 million makeover, Tshuva's real estate firm sold all 181 units, sight unseen, for a total of more than $1.3 billion. The prices for these apartments were so high that real estate brokerage firms started separating the Plaza's sales figures from their overall data reporting because they distorted the market.

But Tshuva would also fight with the hotel union, battle with the owners of the rights to Eloise's image and even endure cries of protest about the possible loss of the Plaza. The actress Sarah Jessica Parker held her 40th birthday party there in a show of support for the hotel.

According to data tracked by Streeteasy.com, Earl McEvoy, a mutual fund manager who paid $4.79 million for an apartment in October 2007, sold it last summer for $4 million. Guy Wildenstein, president of the Wildenstein & Co. gallery on the Upper East Side and owner of a large private art collection, sold Apartment 409, and another unit he bought in August 2008 for $9.6 million went for $6 million 15 months later.

Then there was Oscar S. Schafer, a managing partner at the hedge fund OSS Capital Management, who took a hit on No. 1709. He bought the three-bedroom unit for $14.6 million in May 2008 and sold it for $8.5 million in July 2009. And nine of the 28 apartments in the building on the market have slashed their asking prices.

Some context: Lawyers and brokers say that 15 Central Park West, a new property whose condos were sold at roughly at the same time as the Plaza's, had its last 10 transactions sell for well over their asking price. Edward Mermelstein, a real estate lawyer who represented more than two dozen buyers of apartments at the Plaza and 15 Central Park West, said that since both properties opened, his clients preferred 15 Central Park West apartments for its bigger windows and bigger-name residents.

It is possible, then, that his buyers want to live near the chief executive of Goldman Sachs at 15 Central Park West, not the former chief executive of Bear Stearns at the Plaza.

“;You have the perception at this point that 15 Central Park West is very much a private club,”; Mermelstein said. “;The Plaza has very much of a feeling of a hotel.”;

But even the most serious skeptics of the relative value of the Plaza condos say that once the residential real estate slowdown passes, the building will be desirable to some buyers.

“;With its uniqueness in the world, and its name in the world, it's going to be a sought-after address,”; said Noel Berk, a real estate broker who lives in and has sold apartments at 15 Central Park West. “;The Plaza is the Plaza.”;

One of the central struggles at the Plaza involves the shopping center which Tshuva's firm, Elad Properties, created in the hotel's basement. It includes several luxury retailers like the Viennese patisserie Demel, Maurice Fine Jewelry and Krigler perfumes. But a shirt maker, Eton of Sweden, has closed.

Alan Victor, president of the retail brokerage firm Lansco, said that while two of his brokers made deals there, he was advising clients not to set up shop there because of the location off Fifth Avenue and the recession.

“;It's just too risky to put our tenants there,”; he said.

Plaza executives responsible for the hotel and events divisions say that while the market has been tough, it is slowly getting better.

Business for events booked in the Grand Ballroom dropped 20 percent in 2009, from 2008, said Liz Neumark, principal of CPS Events, which has a 25-year lease to manage the hotel's event spaces. She credits the drop to a decline in corporate meetings and the tighter budgets of nonprofit organizations.

Shane Krige, general manager of the 282-room hotel that still operates at the Plaza, said that occupancy for hotel rooms followed similar trends.

But Plaza executives also see some hopeful signs. Neumark predicts a 30 percent jump in wedding bookings this year. The hotel's occupancy rate rose to 90 percent in December, according to Krige. The hotel also just received its first five-diamond rating from AAA.

It remains to be seen whether the mix of restaurants in the building will meet the standards of truly highbrow guests. The Edwardian Room remains closed except for private events. The Palm Court, which reopened briefly, closed again in December 2008. Krige said that Fairmont, which manages the hotel, plans to reopen the Palm Court this spring, and he is posting job openings there. The Oak Bar, the Oak Room, the Champagne Bar and the Rose Club remain open.

The celebrity chef Todd English is sorting out construction details for a 5,400-square-foot food hall next to the basement stores. English's spokeswoman on this project, Willie Norkin, dismissed any questions that the market's food offerings—they will range from sushi to dumplings to pizza—may not be up to the Plaza's reputation.

“;I don't think the goal here is to have offerings that are going to be exclusive,”; she said. “;It's going to have offerings that are inclusive and appealing.”;

Joey Alaham, a part owner in the Oak Room and owner of three other restaurants, said that even in the face of the recession, there is a history about the Plaza that still draws customers. He described a 97-year-old man who recently visited the Oak Room. He ordered a Macallan Scotch and gazed at the newly restored murals around him.

“;His wife passed away,”; Alaham said. “;He came in to remember their first date.”;