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Trump Group ready to close on Estates at Acqualina site – but first, to the auction block
Trump, majority owner of the timeshare resort, will make the reserve bid of $26M
The Trump Group is one step closer to owning the 5.6-acre oceanfront site of its Estates at Acqualina condo project in Sunny Isles Beach, The Real Deal has learned.
The firm, led by developer Jules Trump (of no relation to the president), owns 96.5 percent of the Golden Strand Ocean Villas Resort Condominium, a low-rise timeshare resort. It’s slated to become a two-phase, two-tower, 245-unit project.
CBRE’s Christian Charre, Natalie J. Castillo and Paul Weimer are handling the auction, which is legally required for Trump to gain full ownership. The developer started acquiring units about five years ago.
The property will be auctioned on Aug. 18, Charre, who expects several developers to bid on the site, said. Aug. 11 is the bid deadline. Trump’s A3 Development LLC will make the reserve bid of $26 million.
Trump plans to start the demolition process this year. He declined to provide a sales figure for the first tower, but said it is “enough to get us going” and that about 50 percent of presales are still from domestic buyers. The acquisition financing, whose amount he declined to provide, is expected to become the construction loan.
Closing on the land would be a milestone for the developer, who put the second tower on hold in October due to the market slowdown.
The Estates at Acqualina is now planned to have a 154-unit, 51-story south tower and a 91-unit, 49-story north tower.
The site, at 17901 Collins Avenue, has more than 500 feet of oceanfront. It’s north of the Mansions at Acqualina, completed in 2015, and Acqualina Resort & Spa, completed in 2006.
The Estates will feature a lobby designed by Chanel and Fendi creative director Karl Lagerfeld and Villa Acqualina, a 50,000-square-foot building with a slate of amenities that will include a spa and fitness center, restaurant and Circus Maximus, an ice skating rink, bowling lanes and a movie theater, as well as a Wall Street Trader’s Club room. The property will also feature landscaped gardens, multiple infinity pools, a FlowRider for surfers, a basketball court, bocce court, dog park, soccer field and a beachfront restaurant.
Trump said he’s looking at expanding the Acqualina brand, which could include licensing opportunities. “Obviously, it would have to be in gateway cities with a similar sort of demographic to what we have for Acqualina,” he added.