Amid a changing office market, President Trump’s Manhattan office towers made less rental income last year than initially projected by lenders, according to a new report.
The office tower at 40 Wall Street, where Trump owns the leasehold, made $17.4 million in 2016, according to CMBS data analyzed by Bloomberg. A 2015 appraisal valuing the property at $540 million predicted that it would generate $22.6 million in annual income.
At Trump Tower, a 2012 appraisal valued the retail and office portion, which Trump owns, at $480 million and estimated that it would make $20.4 million in annual income. But last year the property had a net income of $14.1 million.
Vornado Realty Trust’s 1290 Avenue of the Americas, where Trump owns a 30 percent stake, generated a net income of $77.7 million last year. A 2012 appraisal valuing the tower at $2 billion had estimated an annual income of $97.7 million.
“We’re in the biggest development pipeline in Manhattan since the 1980s,” Savills Studley researcher Keith DeCoster told Bloomberg. “Older buildings — circa 1980s, 1990s — are having a tougher time competing.”
Based on these income numbers, Bloomberg claims that the value of Trump’s office properties has fallen, pushing his estimated net worth from $3 billion to $2.9 billion. Bloomberg cited mortgage documents, lender statements, market data and the president’s most recent financial disclosure on June 16 in determining value. But it’s still not clear exactly how Bloomberg arrived at its estimate, or whether it accounted for the fact that property values rise can rise even as rental income shrinks, depending on factors like interest rates or investor appetite. [Bloomberg] — Konrad Putzier
(To view more properties owned by the Trump Organization, click here)