Trump Press Releases

Donald Trump wins again.

Donald Trump wins again. He will have his New York City condo hotel.

After a year-long debate, the city finally approved his construction plans on May 7, 2007 for the 45-story Trump SoHo condo hotel located at 246 Spring Street.

The planned project, backed by the Trump and the Sapir organizations, would be the first hotel in New York in an area specifically zoned for manufacturing. The plans were approved despite protests that the condo-hotel violates the zoning of the site, which prohibits any residential usage.

"There's a specific and philosophical problem with it," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. "Specifically, I think it's too large and out of context. Philosophically, I don't like the idea of having loopholes in manufacturing zones."

Trump originally applied for permits for construction in May 2006 but was rejected due to the presence of kitchens in the condo hotel, making the project seem more condo-like and, therefore, not enough hotel-like. A year later, after much public discussion with city officials and activists, Trump has finally been granted gotten the approval he was confident would come.

No word yet on when sales of the condo hotel units will begin.

Trump Baja, Mexico Sells $120 Million of Condo Hotel Units In 1st Day

SAN DIEGO- buyers purchased more than $122 million of Trump Ocean Resort Baja, Mexico’s condo-hotel residences. They set a one-day real estate sales record for the country.

Priced from the $200,000s to nearly $3 million, the 188 suites sold. They represented 80% of Phase I of the project. The Trump Baja results come just one month after the one-day, world record $700 million sell-out of Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beach Walk™. Combined, Baja and Waikiki topped $820 million in luxury residences sold during the two single-day sales events.

Partners in both projects include The Trump Organization, with Los Angeles-based development partner Irongate and sales & marketing firm S&P Destination Properties.

“The success of Trump Ocean Resort Baja has capped off an extraordinary month for our luxury real estate offerings,” said Donald J. Trump. “We’re looking forward to starting construction and creating one of the finest resorts in all of Mexico.”

“Trump will be the first truly world-class resort in Baja,” said Jason Grosfeld, co-founder of Irongate. “The design, architecture and service will be unsurpassed in the region.”

Located just 30 minutes from downtown San Diego, Trump Ocean Resort Baja will be highly distinguishable from other properties in the area. The property will boast a collection of amenities and features found only at luxury resorts, including an owner’s concierge; a lobby bar & lounge; a pool house bar & café; a fine dining restaurant; an infinity edge resort pool; lap and family pools; a spa and fitness center; tennis courts and walking trails.

“As evidenced by Friday’s sales results, Baja is clearly gaining momentum as a destination,” said Sid Landolt, president of S&P Destination Properties. “This is more good news for the resort real estate market. Clearly there’s still a lot of interest and demand for high-end vacation real estate.”

Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2007 with the completion of the first tower anticipated in late 2008. Phase Two is set to be released in early 2007.

Trump Leads Boom With Baja Condo Hotel

By Sam Hodgson
The Daily Transcript

On Monday, in sales outlets in Hawaii and Japan, Donald Trump set a new world record for single-day property sales, pawning off more than $700 million worth of condo hotels at his new five-star Waikiki resort within a matter of hours.

Come December, he's hoping to repeat the feat on a somewhat smaller scale for his latest undertaking, The Trump Ocean Resort in Baja Mexico. The 562-unit, Baja-based hotel-condominium has already garnered international attention, drawing prospective buyers from Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Australia.

But it won't be until Trump holds a selection event in early December 2006 that would-be buyers will find out how big of a slice they can take out of the Trump-Baja pie. In Waikiki, the selection event resulted in celebrities such as Don Ho buying as big as they could, locking up rooms that ranged in price from the $400,000s to as high as $9 million for the most upscale penthouses.

In Trump's Baja condo hotel development, which sits about 12 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, prices will begin in the mid-$200,000s. Still, the developers of the project contend that it will be the most luxurious development in all of Baja, and say that many other speculators and condo buyers are in agreement with them.

The developers have already received inquiries from thousands of prospective buyers across the world who eagerly await the selection event. There, buyers will meet with sellers during an appointment time and hammer out the terms of a purchase agreement. Jason Grosfeld, principal of Irongate -- the firm accompanying Trump on the project -- said the event will likely be held in San Diego on Dec. 8 or 9, although final details are not yet clear.

What is clear, however, is that Trump's foray into the booming Baja condo market marks a coming of age for the area. Hotel owners throughout the region have already begun to point to Trump's property not as competition, but as a tool that will help drive tourism to the region.

Already, the economy of the Northern Baja region is largely driven by tourism. Hugo Torres, the owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel, said that about 90 percent of the business between the border and Ensenada is from American clientele. He said Trump's resort will continue to bolster that figure, despite significant looming problems associated with long border waits. This, he said, is the key factor that holds down development in Baja.

"If we didn't have the border problem, we'd probably have 10 times as many hotels," Torres said earlier this year. Grosfeld said he plans to reduce the effects of the long border wait by offering a charter from San Diego to the doorstep of the hotel that will take an expedited line across the border. He said he expects condo residents will likely purchase a SENTRI (Secure Electronic Network for Rapid Inspections) pass, which enables them to use the special line.

But regardless of the border traffic, the success of Trump's Waikiki property underscores the value of the billionaire's name emblazoned across the hotel's façade. "It seems to be garnering an international interest," Grosfeld said. "And once again, that's probably because of Trump."