As Donald Trump stumps through Middle America in his quest to “Make America Great Again,” his office buildings are already doing great.
His first large edifice, Trump Tower, is perched at 725 Fifth Ave. on the northeast corner of East 56th Street, right next to Tiffany & Co.
He and wife, Melania, rode down the escalator in its pink marble multifloor atrium to join the throngs waiting for his presidential announcement back in June.
The flagship Gucci store has a large piece of the retail, while Nike has its flagship in an adjoining building on East 57th Street. The tower’s office portion is just shy of full, and its residences have rare resales available, including a 57th-floor unit asking $18 million.
Trump resides in the top triplex while the Trump Organization offices are on the 26th floor, where his private office overlooks Central Park. One floor is now being used as a political floor, Trump said.
The office building was an early convert to green living with its sawtooth setbacks that provide each floor with a dozen corner offices and rippling trees for shade.
The entire 14,972-square-foot 17th floor and a 8,856-square-foot portion of the 15th floor have asking rents of $130 per foot.
Cushman & Wakefield teams lease both Trump Tower and the Trump Building at 40 Wall St. downtown.
Steps from the New York Stock Exchange, the 72-story Art Deco 40 Wall was the city’s tallest before a rival developer popped a spire onto the Chrysler Building. It still offers a commanding river-to-river view.
In 1995, Trump was delighted to best a Chinese group that had paid $10.8 million at an auction before being mired in unworkable renovation plans.
Trump saved them from themselves, kept a tax certiorari settlement and cut deals with their contractors to bring his final cost to around $1 million — and then renovated himself.
“I took it over at a low point,” Trump recalled.
Now worth around $600 million, the 1.35 million-square-foot building has a mere $160 million mortgage and a ground lease that can be extended to 2194.
According to CoStar, a handful of spaces are available, totaling 52,272 feet at asking rents from $37 to $46 per foot. A 21,000-square-foot retail space “has offers” and should be gobbled up as the nearby 70 Pine St. residential tower opens.
With Vornado, Trump also owns a stake in 1290 Sixth Ave. and the Bank of America tower in San Francisco.
Whether or not he is elected, you can be sure Trump will continue to develop great towers, golf courses, hotels, resorts and residences around the world. “They are all great,” Trump agreed. “That’s what I do.”
The Dept. of Finance has just supplied more information about the in rem actions filed against properties last month. A total of 370 properties are in the midst of being foreclosed and owe the city $110.5 million.
In Manhattan, there are 82 properties owing $27.05 million, for an average of $330,000.
Queens has 10 properties on the list that owe $7.5 million, but a high average lien of $748,000. Next up is the Bronx, with 116 properties owing $39.22 million, or $338,000 each. Brooklyn had the highest, at 162 properties owing $36.7 million with an average tab of $226,700.
The last time properties were foreclosed by the city was in 2008. Since then, critics have said that without that tool in place, certain property owners would not have an incentive to pay up, even while collecting rents from others. Prior to filing the in rem actions, in fact, 258 properties were redeemed by taxpayers.
There are also thousands of city properties on the lien list making some tax payments.
Owners have about 22 months to pay in full or enter into an installment agreement. The rest will be transferred to a nonprofit entity, Neighborhood Restore, before a permanent qualified owner is found. According to the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, its Third Party Transfer program rehabilitates buildings, maintains affordability and protects existing tenants from displacement while improving their living conditions and providing responsible long-term ownership.
