Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump appeared on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” program last night, where she briefly discussed the current economic climate, and of course, Barack Obama’s presidency (see the video after the jump). [more]

Donald Trump and 40 Wall Street

Thanks to aggressive leasing deals, Donald Trump again has managed to improve 40 Wall Street’s value, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Leases for more than 600,000 square feet worth of space at the 1.3 million-square-foot office tower were set to expire in 2009, yet in the last six months the Trump Organization has managed to fill two-thirds of that space in a tepid office leasing environment. [more]

From left: Donald Trump, president of the Trump Organization, Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, and Lois Weiss, real estate columnist for the New York Post

Compiled by Lauren Elkies

In the wake of Sandy Weill’s reported $88 million sale of his 15 Central Park West penthouse, The Real Deal wanted to touch base and see if real estate executives had any last minute predictions for the New Year since speaking with the magazine for the December residential market report.

Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, said to expect 2012 to be a bit of a repeat of 2011, while developer Donald Trump said “really good real estate will have excess value.” Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, predicts a “continuing strong demand for new condominium offerings all over town,” while Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, said “the euro will continue to be in trouble causing a flight to safety to the U.S. and particularly New York City, so New York City properties will trade at even lower cap rates.” Meanwhile, Citi Habitats President Gary Malin and Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman recently told amNY that 2012 would bring more development and fewer amenities to New York City’s real estate market. [more]

From left: Trump Organization Chairman and President Donald Trump, Naftali Group CEO Miki Naftali and Jones Lang LaSalle President of New York operations Peter Riguardi

September marks The Real Deal’s 100th magazine issue (to be posted online tomorrow). In it, we will be bringing you some of the stories that made the biggest impact on us and on the market. In the meantime, here is what some industry execs have to say about The Real Deal’s magazine milestone as well as about what The Real Deal has meant to them in the publication’s eight-year existence. For example, Donald Trump, chairman and president of the Trump Organization, said: “The Real Deal has become more comprehensive in its coverage of the real estate industry in New York City and it has also become a valuable source of information. The Real Deal has done a terrific job.” Compiled by Lauren Elkies

[more]

From left: Donald Trump and a rendering of the Jones Beach catering hallDonald Trump will appear at a Jones Beach rally supporting his controversial Trump on the Ocean project organized by the local business improvement district, Alliance to Revitalize Jones Beach, the Trump Organization announced.

Since 2006, Trump has intended to build a 37,291-square-foot catering hall and restaurant to replace Robert Moses’ Boardwalk Restaurant at the beach in Wantagh, which was torn down in 2004. The project was initially slated to cost $26 million at no expense to taxpayers, but the state has since waged war against the proposal, first over building permit issues, then safety issues and finally rent payments. Local residents also fear the attraction will create traffic problems. – Adam Fusfeld
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Celebrities packed the Hammerstein Ballroom last night for Comedy Central’s roast of Donald Trump, the developer, presumed presidential candidate, “Celebrity Apprentice” overlord, prospective baseball mogul, hopeful Tavern on the Green rescuer, and all-around overexposed personality. Word is that the roast — slated to air March 15 at 10:30 p.m. — was pretty brutal (from comedian Jeff Ross: “Actually, Donald, Comedy Central wanted to roast someone more likable, but Bernie Madoff was busy!”), but at least it’s all for a good cause. TMZ reports that Trump was originally against the public humiliation, but agreed when he found out it came with a $2 million payday. Trump will be donating the entirety of his earnings last night to charity, he said, before declaring to the audience post-roast, “What a great honor it must be for you to honor me here tonight!” [TMZ] and [Fancast]

A Trump Organization vice president is on his way to Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus, in a move that is fueling speculation that The Donald may pursue a presidential bid in 2012, according to the Hollywood Gossip blog. Michael Cohen, who also serves as counsel to Trump, is reportedly set to meet with Republican party leaders, “gauging the reception I feel he would have if he comes to Iowa,” Cohen said. Trump, who said last month he’d make up his mind whether or not to run by June, told the Des Moines Register that he’d campaign aggressively in Iowa. [more]

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

Ivanka Trump may have made headlines in the past for her show-stopping modeling career and lavish upbringing, but the Trump Organization executive vice president is focused today on making a name for herself in the real estate world, she said in a recent interview with Crain’s. The heiress and wife of fellow real estate scion Jared Kushner — who owns the New York Observer — said “real estate is still [her] primary focus,” despite a growing presence in the worlds of fashion and jewelry. She said her work in hotels is one of her proudest accomplishments. [more]

Legal challenges for prolific architect Costas Kondylis who designed large residential towers such as the Trump Organization apartment buildings in Lincoln Square, are mounting. A division of New York Community Bank is claiming in court papers filed this week that Kondylis as well as his former partners and related companies lied to the lender when the firm sought an extension of a revolving loan. New York Commercial Bank, a division of Westbury, L.I.-based New York Community Bank, says in the suit filed May 3 in New York State Supreme Court that it lent the firm more than $1.29 million through the revolving loan, which was guaranteed by the company and its principals, under a false representation about the firm’s financial condition. This suit comes a little more than a month after a state judge ruled that Kondylis former company Costas Kondylis & Partners owes rival firm Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects more than $119,000 in unpaid fees they sued for last year. [more]

After a series of delays, the attorney general has given the go-ahead to Trump Soho, allowing the developers to proceed with closing deals, the developers of the condominium-hotel told The Real Deal.
“The offering plan for Trump Soho has just been declared effective,” said Jay Neveloff, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, and the attorney for the sponsors, the Sapir Organization, Bayrock Group and an affiliate of the Trump Organization. “Closings can now commence.” The 391-unit, 46-story building at 246 Spring Street has faced a series of troubles since breaking ground in 2007.
Closings were supposed to begin by mid-April, The Real Deal reported in March.
[more]