Dumping Trump
SUFFERING SOHO SPOT DITCHING DON
BEING PRESIDENT isn’t good for business.
President Trump’s gold-plated brand is losing a little of its shine, and nowhere is that more evident than at a luxury hotel in SoHo that bears his name.
The Trump Organization, the business arm of the Trump empire, agreed to a buyout Wednesday of its interest in the Trump SoHo Hotel, a shimmering 46-story hotel and condo building that looms over the Manhattan neighborhood.
Sheathed in glass and controversy, the building, at 246 Spring St., has struggled to live up to the promise it was saddled with when the idea of a luxury hotel and condo in SoHo was introduced more than a decade ago on the set of Trump’s “The Apprentice” show.
And it hasn’t helped that all but one of 12 NBA teams that used to stay at the Trump SoHo Hotel during the season have found other places to bunk. What was once a real estate layup has become a flagrant foul.
The hotel has struggled to draw guests at five-star prices, and has dropped rates just to keep selling rooms. Condominiums have also been difficult to sell.
The hotel’s main restaurant, Koi, shut down in April, in part, said a company lawyer, because of the election.
Despite the Wednesday split, the building’s owner, CIM Group, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, had nothing but praise for the Trump team.
“Under the seasoned management of the Trump Organization, the hotel has been established as one of the finest in New York City,” Bill Doak, a CIM Group vice president, said in a statement.
“The board and CIM have been first class in every regard,” Eric Danziger, chief executive officer of Trump Hotels, said in a statement.
“We have truly enjoyed our relationship and look forward to exploring new opportunities in the future.”
The agreement means the Trump name will be removed from the building by the end of the year.
But lost revenue may be the least of the Trump team’s worries. A lawsuit alleges that the project was backed by a Russian financier accused of being a money-laundering front.
The SoHo break-up follows a similar parting of the ways between the Trump Organization and a firm that owns the Trump International Hotel & Tower in downtown Toronto.
The Toronto hotel is being rebranded as a St. Regis, under Marriott International Inc.’s luxury banner.
A year ago, The Trump Place apartment complex on Manhattan’s Upper West Side dropped Trump’s name shortly after he was elected following an outcry by residents.
The owner, Equity Residential, said it was “assuming a more neutral building identity that will appeal to all current and future residents.”
NBA star Russell Westbrook loves the neighborhood, but hasn’t been staying at the hotel.
“I love the location of Trump SoHo,” Westbrook (inset) once said of the area. “You can walk right into SoHo for great shopping and eating.”
His team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, dropped the hotel over the summer.
Another NBA team stopped staying at Trump’s hotel in downtown Chicago.
And at least three National Hockey League teams and one Major League Baseball club ended their agreements with Trump hotels.