in April 1995. As part of the transaction, the hotel's debt was reduced to $25 million. Kwek and Al-Waleed each bought a 42 percent stake, and Citibank received the other 16 percent stake, a move intended to prevent Trump from intervening in the sale. The partnership also agreed that, if the mansard penthouses were ever created, some of the profits would be shared with Trump. In 1997, Hong Kong developer Great Eagle Holdings agreed to buy half of Al-Waleed's stake in the Plaza Hotel. DiLorenzo International renovated the ballroom in the mid-1990s, and Adam Tihany refurbished the Edwardian Room prior to 2001. The Plaza was highly profitable in the late 1990s, with operating income of almost $46 million at the end of that decade. 21st century El Ad ownership The September 11 attacks in 2001 resulted in a downturn in the New York City tourism industry. Correspondingly, the Plaza's operating profits decreased greatly, leaving Kwek and Al-Waleed unable to refurbish the Plaza as they had previously planned to do. In 2004, they sold the Plaza Hotel for $675 million to El Ad Properties, run by developer Yitzhak Tshuva. El Ad wished to add residential and commercial units, but initially faced pushback from hotel unions and preservationists, who opposed El Ad's plan to remove most of the hotel rooms and convert the restaurant spaces to stores. After over sixty hours of discussions between El Ad and the hotel unions, they came to an agreement on April 14, 2005, under which El Ad would convert fewer units to apartments, while preserving more of the hotel suites. The Plaza Hotel temporarily closed for a $450 million renovation on April 30, 2005, two weeks after the agreement had been brokered. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts took over operation of the hotel portion during late 2005. The Plaza's furnishings were auctioned on-site and at a Christie's auction in 2006. During the renovation, most of the short-term hotel rooms were converted into residential units, and the Palm Court's stained glass ceiling was restored. In addition, floors 18 and 19 were extended toward the interior courtyard, while a small floor 20 was created above the existing roof. The hotel reopened on March 1, 2008. Though the real-estate market in general had slowed down due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, apartments at the Plaza Hotel were being sold for millions of dollars, disproportionately impacting average apartment prices in