Trump sons go hunting

Confronting criticism head on seems to run in Trump blood, as Donald Trump Jr. batted away criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over the photos that emerged this week showing him with animals he hunted on a safari in Zimbabwe.

The Huffington Post reported that PETA released a statement criticizing Donald Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric, for their exploits. ”If the young Trumps are looking for a thrill, perhaps they should consider skydiving, bungee jumping, or even following in their anti-hunting father’s footsteps and taking down competing businesses — not wild animals,” the statement read. [more]

Drugstore giant Duane Reade has inked a deal to take 54,500 square feet of office space at Trump’s 40 Wall Street, the building that alsohouses its retail flagship, the New York Observer reported.

The pharmacy chain, named for Duane and Reade streets in Lower Manhattan, where the firm had its first store, will take the 21st and 22nd floors at the 72-story tower. Its lease at 440 Ninth Avenue had recently expired. The 15-year deal at 40 Wall had asking rents in the mid $30s-per-square-foot, brokers said. [more]

Donald Trump Jr. is keeping busy with his family’s newest hotel in Toronto and “Celebrity Apprentice,” the Toronto Star reported. Recently he was spending time in the 1,151-square-foot, $1,295-per-night executive suite at the Trump Toronto Hotel at Bay and Adelaide streets, which is scheduled to open in a few months. Even with the birth of his fourth child, Tristan Milos, on Sunday, he will also continue to have a lot on his plate at work, particularly with the competition in the hotel market from the Ritz Carlton, Shangri-La and a new Four Seasons. [more]

From the August issue:

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The model apartment at Trump Plaza Residences

After this summer’s appearance on “HGTV Design Star,” the Trump Plaza Residences condominium in Jersey City has unveiled a permanent model residence designed by the show’s finalists. The condo, at 88 Morgan Street, is New Jersey’s tallest residential tower. The model apartment is a 1,182-square-foot, two-bedroom unit on the 32nd floor with views of the Manhattan skyline and the Hudson River. In an interview with The Real Deal just before the episode aired in July, Donald Trump Jr. said he hoped the show would boost sales at the condo. “The demographic of the people watching the show could be potential buyers, and the show highlights the amenities of the building, its views, and its proximity to city,” he said. “It was great that the show’s producers wanted to use the Jersey City project as an example of a model luxury building.” TRD

[more]

The July 25 episode
of HGTV’s “Design Star” series challenged two teams of contestants to
each design a two-bedroom model apartments at the new Trump Plaza
Residences in Jersey City, and incorporate and repurpose some New York
City souvenirs into the finished product. Donald Trump Jr. was on hand
as a guest judge, as The Real Deal reported last week. In an exclusive interview with The Real Deal,
Trump described the building as being consistent with the Trump ideal
of “luxury.” The 55-story, 443-unit building, at 88 Morgan Street
between Washington and Green streets, is the tallest residential tower
in Jersey City. Trump said he was impressed with elegant and soft look
of one team’s design, incorporating souvenirs from Times Square and
Broadway. The other team disappointed Trump, who said their design
resembled a college dorm and that the implementation of the souvenirs
was ineffective. At the end of the episode, two contestants were
eliminated.

[more]

Donald Trump Jr. has sold his two-bedroom, two-bathroom Trump Place
condo at 220 Riverside Boulevard for $1.85 million to Brazilian model
Isabeli Fontana, according to Curbed. The condo was never officially
listed, but the Post reported last year that the Trump family had moved
on to the Sovereign at 425 East 58th Street — a non-Trump building –
for more space. Trump once sat on the condo board at Trump Place, but
was ousted in 2006 along with his six fellow board members after
Eugenia Kaye, director Tony Kaye’s wife, accused them of neglectful
management. [Curbed]

[more]

Closings will begin at the Trump Soho condo-hotel after the latest Trump Hotel Collection property is unveiled this Friday, according to a hotel spokesperson (note: correction appended). The 391-unit, 46-story building at 246 Spring Street is one of the largest condo-hotel properties to be built in the city in recent memory. The project, which broke ground in 2007, was originally slated to open in fall 2009. The first downtown property in the Trump Hotel Collection, the Trump Organization’s line of luxury and boutique hotels, Trump Soho generated controversy during its construction when a concrete collapse caused one worker to fall to his death. A rocky economy and community opposition also led to delays. Trump Soho is “creating a new category Downtown,” Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president with the Trump Organization, told The Real Deal at the project’s media preview last night (see slide show of the event above). [more]

The Trump Soho and Donald Trump Jr.

Trump Soho is “subtly” opening this Friday, but expect “something a little more lavish” in the fall when “the world’s in a little better place,” Donald Trump Jr. told the New York Times. Trump, who is an executive president at the Trump Organization along with his sister, Ivanka and brother, Eric, shied away from the title heir apparent to the Trump throne. He declined to disclose how sales are doing at the new condo-hotel, but said units, ranging from under 500 square feet to 10,000 square feet, are going for roughly $2,900 a foot. Hotel stays are starting at $389 per night, though the Trumps are hoping to ramp up the rate to $500 per night by the fall. Trump is also managing leasing at Downtown office tower 40 Wall Street, where he said occupancy has risen to above 75 percent, from 60-something one year ago.

Donald Trump is reportedly weighing an entry into the 1 World Trade Center bidding fray after visiting the site with sons Donald Jr. and Eric and daughter Ivanka last month to discuss a potential $100 million offer. Sources told the Post that while Trump’s good track record with finishing projects on schedule and working with unions makes him an attractive candidate from the perspective of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the Donald himself isn’t yet convinced that he wants the project. As one source put it, “Trump loves the concept [of owning what was being called the Freedom Tower], but doesn’t know where the tenants would come from — and it’s such a target. He keeps saying, ‘There’s a big red target painted on it.’” If Trump does wind up making an offer, he’ll be joining the likes of Brookfield Properties, Vornado Realty Trust, Related Companies, the Durst Organization, Boston Properties and Hines Interests, all of which are said to have submitted proposals. The Port Authority wants the eventual owner to oversee construction and to finish leasing and managing the 1,776-foot-tall property. [Post]