Trumps Eyeing Georgia (the Country) for Next Global Endeavor

The Trump family has Georgia on its mind — just not the one Ray Charles crooned over.

The Trump Organization is pursuing a 70-story mixed-use development in Tbilisi, the capital of the nation straddling the border of Europe and Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Sapir Organization is among the partners in the project, which also includes local entities Archi Group and Biograpi Living; Archi is responsible for delivering tens of thousands of residential units to the country, while Biograpi is part of a national conglomerate that operates in multiple industries.

The site, situated next to the city’s Central Park, is owned by the development team behind the project. Gensler will design the development.

Projected to be the tallest building in the capital, the development would include luxury residences, retail space and various amenities. Eric Trump did not comment to the publication regarding the project, which was later disclosed in a press release.

The development encapsulates the evolution of the Trump Organization’s foreign policy from Donald Trump’s first term to the second.

Shortly after being elected in 2016, the company abandoned a project in Batumi, a resort town in Georgia, concerned over the possible appearance of any conflict of interest. During Donald Trump’s second term, the company has largely shed any misgivings about such optics.

Last month, it was reported the company was looking at putting luxury apartments and a golf course at a site in Cluj, a city in the Eastern European nation of Romania. A rendering of the project shows a development double the height allowable under the zoning rules in place.

There was also a Trump-branded hotel project planned for Belgrade, Serbia, which was being led in part by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. His firm withdrew from the controversial hotel project following the indictment of a cabinet minister and three officials involved in the development.

The planned two-skyscraper project was to be built on the site of the former Yugoslav army headquarters, which was destroyed by NATO bombing and had its protected status removed to allow the $500 million development to proceed.

Still, it’s been full steam ahead for the Trump Organization, which has shown no signs of slowing down its international licensing of the name. Projects have sprung up in the Middle East, Vietnam and India since the start of Trump’s second term.

— Holden Walter-Warner