Having his gold-plated footprint all over most of Manhattan was apparently not enough. Now, Donald Trump wants to leave his imprint in Soho as well, with a 45-story hotel-condo that would be the tallest structure in the neighborhood.
The Soho plan is already facing vociferous opposition from local residents who say it’s way out of proportion with the surrounding area.
Donald Trump Jr. is heading up efforts for the project as executive vice president of development and acquisitions in the Trump Organization. He is also involved in many of the developments his father’s firm is creating in the city and around the world.
Among the notable new developments Trump Jr. has a hand in is the Palm Trump International Hotel and Tower in the small sheikdom of Dubai, a veritable Shangri-la of high-rise development.
In a recent podcast, Trump Jr. talked about Dubai development, hotel-condos and the best real estate advice his father ever gave him. The podcast can be heard in full here.
THE REAL DEAL: Many residents have said your 45-story hotel-condo in Soho is too tall. What is your response to this?
DONALD TRUMP JR.: I don’t think there is such thing as too tall. I think for that location it’s very fitting. People say the best views from New York are from Jersey, but we’re going to have a lot of those views because we are in an area that’s not encumbered by other [tall] sites.
TRD: You’re building this at a time when construction costs are escalating. What’s the cost for this project?
DT: Everything in New York is trading at rather high multiples these days, but I think the location that we have in the site is going to allow us to build a project that makes sense. It is expensive, but the area is really unique. You have a 45-story building in Soho with a 360-degree circle above the 12th floor. It’ll be about a $500 million project from a construction cost standpoint — maybe a little more.
TRD: Who is the typical hotel-condo buyer?
DT: It depends on location. Largely, it’s people who want to have an investment. They are buying real estate, but they’re also buying a cash-flow product that is carrying their expenses. When they are here, they stay for free, and when they’re not, we’re renting them out for them and generating hotel revenue for the owners.
TRD: Describe your working relationship with your father.
DT: My father and I are very similar in a certain respect and very divergent in another. I think it wasn’t until I started working with my father that I realized how similar we were. It’s one of the few times, I think, where the working relationship developed the personal relationship in a positive manner.
TRD: What’s the best real estate advice he’s given you?
DT: Real estate advice is very market dependent and very timing specific. But, the best business advice he’s ever given me is, “Make sure you always love what you do.” It sounds very basic, almost trite, but so many people wake up in the morning and they can’t stand to work and they wonder why they never excel. One of the biggest things he’s always said [to my sister and me] is, “If you’re going to come work here and you’re going to do it, that’s fine, but if you don’t love it, I’m going to know it and you’re not going to be here.” And he would get rid of us if we didn’t love what we do because we wouldn’t be able to perform or outperform others. He’s not going to let someone who’s not going to outperform work in his organization.
TRD: What is the Trump Organization involved with in Dubai besides the Palm Trump International?
DT: Well, the Palm Trump International is obviously the big one we’re focusing on right now. There’s going to be a marina component. We’re going to be doing luxury estates — think Palm Beach-type estates in Dubai. We’re talking about doing something on the Dubai waterfront in a very commercial aspect as well as potential developments on [the emirate’s] islands.
TRD: Do you think the infrastructure and building codes in Dubai can keep up with the development there?
DT: I think what Dubai has done very differently than perhaps the rest of the world is that they’ve taken into account the infrastructure and built a lot of that in. Other places are growing buildings, but there are no roads and nothing else to draw people. Dubai is building, but they’ve ramped up to be able to handle it in terms of the overall number of units coming into the market from safety and building perspectives. Two of the world’s tallest buildings are going to be built in Dubai — one’s currently under construction, the other is just about to start foundation. They’re really pushing the envelope but know what’s going on.
TRD: Is there that much buyer demand for Trump-branded space in Dubai?
DT: There’s so much being built in Dubai, but bringing the Trump name to the Middle East — it’s an emerging market where you have people that find a lot of value in Trump, from a saleable real estate perspective. People like buying a product they know — they know we stand by our product and we will be forever.