Renderings from the Trump Soho hotel

The controversial Trump Soho has scheduled its first round of unit closings by mid-April, not long after it officially opens April 9, The Real Deal has learned. The high-rise condo-hotel has been delayed due to years of legal wrangling with community opponents that have challenged the property’s zoning, a fatal 2008 crane collapse at the site and a weak credit environment that slowed financing. “Trump Soho, the first downtown property for the Trump Hotel Collection, is opening April 9, 2010,” according to an e-mailed statement from the developer. “The closings will begin after the hotel opens.” The 46-story property at 246 Spring Street, at the corner of Varick Street, broke ground in 2007 and was previously scheduled to open in the fall of 2009, then on Feb. 1, 2010. [more]

The developer of a Soho office building is no longer requesting a
zoning variance to build an 11-story structure at 330 West
Broadway at Grand Street. The planned structure, which was criticized
by Community Board 2 and the
Soho Alliance, would have been a 55 percent increase in bulk over what
is permitted by the current zoning. The property’s owner, John De
Lorenzo and Bro Iron, is currently engaged in litigation with the
developer, West Broadway 330 LLC, for allegedly failing to provide
payments after agreeing to put down a $500,000 deposit. The developer
has filed a counterclaim, charging that De Lorenzo violated the deal’s
confidentiality agreement after news of the deal’s collapse became
public. [more]