Donald ‘Art of the Deal’ Trump, the self-proclaimed stable genius whose business acumen is unparalleled in the modern business world, has built himself up as a real estate tycoon worth billions. Deutsche Bank very much disagreed, calculating Trump’s worth to be not one penny more than he inherited from his father, which means he would have been smarter to put his inherited wealth in a savings account and let it earn interest.
No one accused Trump of doing the smartest things, though.
“No man’s land”: How Trump Tower became Chicago retail’s biggest failure https://t.co/ThQd4UT5Ep
— The Real Deal Chicago (@trdchicago) March 27, 2019
Not only was his wealth a lie, his business sense doesn’t appear to be all that elevated, either. In addition to multiple failed businesses (when was the last time a bottle of Trump vodka or a Trump steak was sold?), his Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago has now tanked.
According to The Real Deal, a real estate news outlet in Chicago:
‘A decade after the tower opened in 2009, it has just one retail tenant, a salon that occupies an enclosed 3,400-square-foot suite above the hotel lobby. The entire deck-level space remains empty, its blank beige walls on full display for the millions of tourists who stroll along the river each year. No part of it has ever been leased, according to Trump Organization tax appeal documents filed in Cook County and analyzed by The Real Deal.’
The property, apparently, was a terrible purchase, and everyone who considered buying it before Trump knew that. Now that the building has had Trump’s name removed from the exterior as well as the marketing materials, the retail space might have looked more attractive to prospective leasers. The property itself is such a terrible place for retail that removing Trump’s name didn’t even help.
‘Trump Tower’s failure is an outlier in Chicago’s competitive retail market, where no comparable space has languished on the market for nearly this long. Over the years, the Trumps have cycled through multiple leasing agents without success. Last year, the Trump name was even removed from marketing materials. And then added back again. Last summer, Donald Trump Jr. paid a visit to the property to kickstart leasing activity.’
“The design’s emphasis on outdoor deck space was also a miscalculation in a city (Chicago) where inclement weather keeps people indoors half the year, multiple brokers said.”
Well, who could’ve known? https://t.co/dHPoXObR3y
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) March 27, 2019
Despite Junior’s visit and multiple promotional videos featuring Ivanka Trump trying to sell the space, the business has tanked, and badly.
‘These efforts have proven futile: In 2018 alone, the tower’s leasing brokers, RKF and ARC Real Estate, spoke with at least 77 potential tenants — mostly cafe and restaurant operators — to discuss a potential lease, according to the tax appeal documents. All said no.’
This is really interesting. Deutsche Bank gave @realDonaldTrump huge loans to buy the Doral resort and to build the Chicago Trump Tower and the D.C. Trump Hotel. https://t.co/ck71bQTWho
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) March 2, 2019
Paul Bryant, managing broker of Mid-America Real Estate, said that the Trumps are just as shady as real estate salespeople as they are in every other way. Their pitch was too grandiose for any business owner seeking real estate space in Chicago to buy.
‘We listened to all their bullshit about how great it was going to be…They were trying to pawn it off like it was part of Michigan Avenue…We were like, no, it’s not.’
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
