First things first, 281 Park Avenue does indeed exist. Sorokin came up with an 80-page pitch outlining her larger-than-life plans for the Anna Delvey Foundation and chose the ornate building that sits on the corner of Park Avenue South and East 22nd Street in New York.
Anna Delvey wanted to host her Anna Delvey Foundation, a "Soho House-ish type club," at 281 Park Avenue South. To make that happen, she posed as a German heiress to scam people and institutions to fund her.
The Flemish Renaissance building at 281 Park Avenue South that brought scammer socialite Anna Delvey down is going on the market.
Nestled among the hustle and bustle of Manhattan's affluent city blocks is 281 Park Avenue South, a six-story building just as bold, stylish and iconic as the person who once sought to lease it, famous New York swindler Anna Delvey.
281 Park Avenue South is an iconic six-story, 45,000 square foot New York City Landmark building situated on the southeast corner of Park Avenue South and East 22nd Street. Currently home to Fotografiska, the renowned Stockholm-based destination for the world's best photography.
We already know Delvey would never own this towering 19th-century masterpiece of architecture, but who does own 281 Park Avenue? The man to envy is real estate magnate and avid art collector, Aby Rosen. Inventing Anna referenced the RFR Realty co-founder multiple times in the nine-episode series.
The apparent socialite, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, told acquaintances that she had “secured the lease” for the club at the 45,000-square-foot building on the corner of 22nd Street. In pursuit of making her club a reality, she connected with some big names in the architecture and real estate world.
Going by the name Anna Delvey, she posed as a German heiress and lied about having a $67 million trust fund to apply for loans, run up debts and secure a historic building for a private arts club.
Inventing Anna hinted that Todd and his onscreen wife, Mags, may have split due to the drama surrounding Delvey's trial, but real life had a happier ending than Hollywood this time around. According to his official bio, Spodek is still married and lives with his wife, Victoria, and their son in Brooklyn.
It sits on the corner of Park Avenue and 22nd. Around the time Anna was arrested in 2017, the building was leased to Fotografiska New York – which is the sole tenant owning all floors. The company is a Swedish photographic organisation, that also has a venue in Stockholm.
Anna Delvey is a Model and interior designer who has a net worth of $75 Million in 2023. Anna Delvey is a German woman. She started her career as a Model getting quite decent success and popularity. Being successful in modeling, she earned a healthy amount of wealth as well.
Allegedly, Delvey deposited fake checks into her Citibank account which allowed her to withdraw $89,000 from Citi before the checks bounced. It is presumed that she used these funds to finance her good-faith deposit with Fortress.
Delvey paid her lawyer, Todd Spodek, with money she got from Netflix, and she paid restitution to her victims using Netflix money.
According to BBC News, which obtained a copy of the Inventing Anna contract through a Freedom of Information Act request, Netflix paid Anna an initial fee of $30,000 pre-trial. This money “went directly to her lawyer, Todd Spodek, to cover a portion of his fees,” the NY Post reported, citing court filings.
The character of Alan Reed is based on a real person.
The real Alan Reed is a man named Andrew Lance. Andrew is a partner at a firm called Gibson Dunn, and he connected Sorokin with a bunch of financial institutions including City National Bank and Fortress Investment Group, according to New York Magazine.
As of June 2023, she remains currently under house arrest in her East Village apartment. In January, Anna threw a "Club House Arrest" party, asking attendees to sign NDAs and donate to Access Justice Brooklyn, an organization dedicated to providing pro bono legal service.
Anna Delvey (also known as Anna Sorokin), the notorious fraudster who conned much of New York's elite society into believing she was a rich heiress, has always had an unquenchable thirst for the high life, as recently revealed by her father, Vadim Sorokin.
She even created the idea of the Anna Delvey Foundation, a private club and art foundation, to entice wealthy donors and further her brand. After bouncing from hotel to hotel and repeatedly not paying her bills, Sorokin was evicted from several hotels.
Before their daughter Anna Sorokin drew attention to them, her parents were a couple of hard-working business owners. When it comes to Anna's father, Vadim Sorokin was a former truck driver with a heating and cooling business and her mom owned a small convenience store.
Fisher Brothers has operated Park Avenue Plaza since the building opened in 1981.
Unfortunately, Rachel ended up paying everything after Anna made up a story about her credit card not working. So, Rachel ended up getting conned out of $62,000—a sum that was more than her annual salary at the time—and wasn't able to pay her bills or rent because of all the debt she racked up, per the New York Post.
Today, the real Todd and Victoria Spodek have two children and reside in Brooklyn, New York City.
What happened to the debt? Anna never paid me back. Two years after Marrakech, following the trial and Anna's conviction, American Express protected me from charges made at La Mamounia.
On top of the fees Anna used the Netflix money to pay for, she also agreed to pay $70,000 in restitution she still owed to Citibank, one of the many financial institutions she stole from, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Anna had already paid the $100,000 she owed to City National Bank.