Trump Tower Chicago condo owners to receive property tax refund

The Chicago Board of Education voted six to zero to approve a property tax refund of more than $220,0000 to Trump Tower condominium owners following negotiation of an appeal in 2015.

Chicago’s public school system, which gets about half of the city’s property tax revenue, negotiated to “reduce the refund to about 16 percent of the $1.35 million that Trump condo owners were seeking originally,” Board of Education attorney Ares Daliani said.

The refund will grant the condo owners $221,802 to split among the more than 1,000 property owners at the condo, Daliani said.

Condo owners at the Trump Tower said their $647 million combined assessment in 2015 was worth $500 million and collectively appealed to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. A total of 484 condo units and 676 parking spaces were combined into one entity in the appeal. The hotel and office portions of Trump Tower were not related to the case.

Other taxing agencies including the city of Chicago and Cook County will have to pay an amount that would be equivalent to the portion of the settlement to which the board of education agreed. The board also approved a refund of $2 million to a group of condo owners in the Gold Coast.

High-profile residents of the Trump Tower or owners of the condo at time of the appeal included Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, former United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek and former Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose.

Trump Tower’s penthouse, listed for $30 million, is currently the priciest in the Chicago housing market. Sanjay Shah, CEO of Chicago-based software maker Vistex, bought the condominium as raw space at $17 million in 2014 and completed it with walls and ceilings.