Observer » The Trump Organization LLC

Two Fresh Deals at Trump’s FiDi Fortress

Roland Li — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:54:09 -0400

Two deals have been signed at the Trump Organization's 40 Wall Street.

Telstra Incorporated, an Australian telecommunications company, expanded and renewed a lease for 10 years on floors 43 and 44, totaling 14,497 square feet. Robert Tanzmann of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.

Brokerage & Management Corp., a shipping company, took 9,263 square feet on the 48th floor. John Johnson and Nicholas Farmakis of Studley represented the tenant.

Jeff Lichtenberg, the Trump special consultant, and Donald Trump Jr. represented the landlord in both deals along with CB Richard Ellis.

rli@observer.com

Editor's note: This reflects a correction made on May 19. Mr. Lichtenberg was originally described as working for CB Richard Ellis. He does not.

The Broker the Clintons Call

Max Abelson — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

LOCATION: You’ve helped the Clinton family find their homes in Westchester and in Washington. What makes Hillary special?

SLOANE: Well, I think she has tremendous intelligence. She’s a very good friend—she’s a loyal friend, devoted to her family—and I’ve had a chance to see that firsthand. Senator Clinton is really the one who made the decision to move to New York, to run for Senate—and that was very much backed up by her husband and her daughter. And I think the decision to move forward with her family—always with her family—was a very important decision.

I know there are people who don’t give her credit for having really saved the unity of her family—which she did. But as I’ve come to know her, I don’t think there is any possibility she could have made any other decision. I, personally, really respect that.

She’s a woman who wakes up every morning and she makes sure her mother’s all right and her daughter’s all right. I had enough opportunity to spend enough time with Senator Clinton when she was First Lady to see that devotion, and it has not diminished over her Senate years.

You joined Brown Harris Stevens in 1986. How did you come to New York?

I started coming to work on a conservation project that Larry Rockefeller had begun in the Catskills called Beaverkill Valley. He persuaded me to become involved in the sale of the real estate, which I did for a decade …. Before you knew it, all my friends were asking me to help them with their transactions.

Who are well-known early clients?

Well, let’s see …. The Jackie Onassis sale on Fifth Avenue—but that wasn’t really until the 90’s. Robert Redford—his family’s apartment—is before that.

Will you get the $40 million asking price for the Trump penthouse at 502 Park you’re currently listing?

Oh, I think absolutely! When you think that we sold the penthouse at 823 Park for $30 million, and we could easily have sold it for $35 million—but the sponsor liked the buyer who offered 30!

What is Donald Trump like?

I think he is terrific. If a problem arises, you can go to Donald with the issue and say, “Now, these are the two ways I was thinking of approaching the solution.” And he invariably comes up with a third way that is better!

I’ve worked with Ivanka and Donald Jr. both, and I think they are so intelligent and so well brought up. Impeccable manners, tremendously considerate—each of them has a work ethic second to none. Their father has nothing on them in terms of work ethic.

I think that Donald Trump will be able to go off and do other things he’d like to do in the world with the knowledge he has two—three—children in that office every day. When you go to Floor 26 [at Trump International], you immediately feel the sense of entering the family business.

How many brokers are in Manhattan’s upper-tier world?

I really think there are probably 10—maximum 12—people that you can say are competing at the very top level.

Why is the co-op world so difficult?

The object isn’t to sell the real estate; the object is to put together a picture of that individual or that family which says to the other co-op owners on the board, “This is an individual or family that we think is appropriate for that building.” … That’s been the heart and soul of my work.

What’s a difficult experience you’ve recently had? Who will you never work with again?

I don’t focus on the negative. I believe we’re in a collaborative business. There sometimes are contentious moments in transactions, and they can cause little bumps in the road between brokers. But the essential business is to overcome anything like that and to go on to the next positive experience. There simply isn’t enough energy, human energy, or time in the day to allow the negative to dominate.

It’s been reported that you lunch with Michael Douglas and Gay Talese. How much of your work is social networking?

My business is largely a repeat business with clients. Over the past few years, a lot of it has come from the Internet, because I—fortunately—have such attractive exclusives. That encourages people to call from just about anywhere to say, “Can I go see this property?”

The Afternoon Wrap: Tuesday

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:28:38 -0400

Poor Jerry Seinfeld had to learn the hard way that Manhattan brokers don't broker on the Sabbath. A judge has ruled that he'll have to pay the normal $100,000 fee (give or take) for his new $3.95 million townhouse on West 82nd Street. Larry David would be proud. [New York Law Journal, via Gawker]

Thank god. New York has made it onto Forbes' list of Most Expensive Rentals. Our local honors go to the $70,000-per-month Trump International penthouse, where panoramic views do not at all make up for the harsh fact that it would cost $840,000 to live there for one year. [Forbes]

Meet a New Yorker named Fitz-Greene Halleck: He has his own statue in Central Park, and he may or may not have been a big fan of Grand Central Station. [L Magazine]

As if Costas Kondylis' 3,854 Trump high-rises weren't enough (see above), he's designing the richly-named Platinum at 247 West 46th Street. Sadly, the "crazed fireplace lobby decor" is a deal breaker. [Curbed]

- Max Abelson

The Afternoon Wrap: Thursday

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:13:46 -0400

Travel + Leisure picks the best 500 hotels in the world, and New York snags nine honors: the Four Seasons, Hotel Plaza Athenee, Lowell, Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton (Battery and Central Park), St. Regis, and Trump International. We vote for the Chelsea, too. [T+L]

What do architects think about when asked to imagine NYC's future? They get bowled over with "anxiety over global warming." So the Architecture Research Office has created "radical coping mechanisms" to make up for soon-to-be flooded streets. See the cheery 22nd-century Manhattan above. [Architectural Record]

In other news, CNN has a big article called Your Home: Is 'going green' worth the cost?. The sub-head reads: "The eco-friendly house (and renovation) has gone mainstream. But is it really worth the cost?" Yes. [CNN/Money]

If you tell The Times that your $3.65 million carriage house was a "bargain," you'll probably get publically humiliated on the Internet. Especially if your renovation cost $500 per foot. And especially if you sorta stole the idea for your mega-hit book. [Gawker]

- Max Abelson

Trump Trumps Other Privately Held Companies

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:43:09 -0400

Crain's new big book of lists names the Trump Organization as the largest privately held company in the New York City area.

I got your numbers - right here!

With projected 2006 revenues of $10.4 billion and 22,500 employees, Trump is the only real estate-related company to make the top 10. (Tishman Construction Corporation is the next closest one, at no. 13.)

The list, however, has its potential problems, which Crain's acknowledges. The 200 companies listed are, well, private, and, therefore, provide and verify much of their own information.

Which might render the Trump Organization's top perch a tad shaky as its namesake may have a jones for pumping up his numbers.

- Tom Acitelli

Is Trump Retiring to Panama?

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:53:40 -0400

Donald and Melania Trump

Is Donald Trump preparing his exit from The Trump Organization?

At a press conference yesterday to announce a new development in Panama, Mr. Trump wasn't doing most of the talking, despite his propensity for elocution displayed, well, everywhere.

Now settled with model Melania Knauss (whose image graces every corner of Trump Tower) and the proud papa of newborn baby Barron, it seems as though the Donald is bowing out to make room for his other children, Don Jr. and Ivanka, in the family business.

At the event in the atrium of Trump headquarters, a well-spoken Ivanka took the lead in introducing the project. She approvingly nodded her head during each speaker's briefing (even her father's) as if the orchestrator of the show, which she may have well been. The Panamanian partner, Roger Khafif, thanked the young Trump for her efforts in learning about the country and actually visiting Panama.

This isn't the only project that Trump Sr. has taken a back seat on. The largest Trump developments in Chicago and Las Vegas are being headed by Don Jr., who also spearheaded the formation of Trump Mortgage LLC, the Associated Press reported.

In fact, what exactly was the impetus for this AP report? A well planted PR piece or a retirement tip?

Actual development news after the jump.

- Riva Froymovich

Trump Ocean Club

The Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower in Panama City, Panama will be huge.

The construction of the 2.4 million square-foot mixed-use lot will be a partnership between The Trump Organization and K Group Developers. The 65-story condo, casino, 24-hour yacht club, golf course and private beach has an estimated cost of $220 million, but that price tag is for the original size of 1.8 million square feet. It is the largest real estate investment in Latin America, according to Trump.

It is 400,000 square feet smaller than the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle--although Don Jr. kept claiming the opposite.

The design resembles a sailboat docked at sea. "One of the most beautiful [developments]...And I have to say this, in all the world," Donald Trump boasted.

Mr. Trump was attracted to the allure of Panama City after a visit three years ago for the Miss Universe pageant, which he co-owns.

The development team kept touting the safety and stability of Panama City. After all, Conde Nast Traveler chose Panama as one of the best places for a second home in the Americas.

"There is a new phenomenon," Mr. Khafif, president of K Group, said, "And it is that the Americans are coming." They are marketing the condos as an affordable, yet luxury option abroad for the "baby boomer to stretch their dollar and live comfortably for the rest of their lives," he noted.

Mr. Khafif also highlighted the country's low cost of living. However, he failed to mention that about 40% of the country's population lives below the poverty line.

The project is expected to be done by 2009.