 Trump Soho |
Even by New York City and Donald Trump standards, the 319-unit Trump Soho has been controversial.
From the start, neighborhood groups waged all out war against the project, arguing the 46-story tower was out of proportion with the low-rise area. Even worse, the plan violated zoning laws restricting new residential towers, they argued.
But Trump Soho, which is officially set to open in Feb. 1, was strictly defined as a “hotel-condo” for “transient occupancy” only, with owners forbidden from using the units for more than 120 days a year. Apartments ranging from 442 to 905 square feet, which were going for $1.2 million in the glory days, have limited storage space, no mailboxes and no kitchens, to discourage users from hanging out too long.
But skeptical activists went to court, accusing Trump of using the hotel-condo status as a zoning dodge. They doggedly tracked the project’s construction and marketing, looking for clues that the tower was really nothing more than a disguised residential project. At one point they brandished ads touting “private owner’s closets” as proof of residential intent.
Through it all, New York’s energetic core of real estate reporters tracked every new development, openly scoffing at the Trump clan’s announcements about the project’s success. (Curbed’s "Trumpilicious" coverage an be found here.)
In June, 2008, Donald Trump, Jr. said 60 percent of the project had been sold, “largely to foreign buyers.” Investors from Spain, Italy and the U.K. accounted for about 40 percent of sales, he said. In a separate interview, Daddy Donald said the penthouses in the project would be marketed exclusively in the United Arab Emirates. (Trump also said the project would open in 2009)
 Lobby view |
Actual sales figures have been something of the Holy Grail for New York’s voracious real estate reporters. Although the developers usually say 55 to 60 percent sold, a New York Post story in November put the figure closer to 28 percent.
There is also speculation that many buyers who put down deposits at the height of the market will walk away from the purchase.
Last July, The Real Deal speculated that lenders may foreclose on the project’s debt.
"They didn't sell many [units], and the ones they did sell, they're not going to be able to close," one local executive told Real Deal.
In a December interview with the New York Times, Rodrigo Niño, president of the Prodigy Network, which is marketing the project, acknowledged some of the problems.
“There is no financing for condo-hotels, so people have to buy in cash,” Niño told the Times. “What we think is, out of the original sales, we’re going to lose 10 to 15 percent of the people who won’t be able to close because of lack of financing.”
Niño said 55 percent of the units had been sold, a figure Trump representatives have refused to discuss. (However, they did send out a press release detailing the lavish penthouses, spacious rooms, restaurants, pool deck and Trump Pillow Menu.)
As for the hotel, rooms are unavailable in February, but start at $599 a night in March, according to the project’s Web site.
Meanwhile, there are signs that enthusiasm for the hotel-condo concept may be waning, that the Trump Soho may be one of the last of its kind.
“There are condo-hotels that developers do to get around commercial zoning and those are like the Trump SoHo,” developer Raphael DeNiro (son of Robert) told the Times. “Those types of condo-hotels are proving to not be successful.”
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