Trump Touches Down in T.O.
Donald Trump was in town today for the ground breaking ceremony for his Trump International Hotel and Tower, defying many critics and real estate insiders who wondered if the project would ever see the light of day. Ryan and I were at the press conference/photo-op along with about 100 other members of the media, local dignitaries, and for some reason Tie Domi. And despite what CTV is reporting, The Donald's progeny, Ivanka and Donald Jr. were not in attendance as was originally planned.
Up until now, Trump's ultra-luxurious Tower was more famous for what it wasn't than for what it is after it was announced in July that the project would be trimmed down from 70 stories to a more modest 57. For his part, Trump claimed that it was simply an issue with the elevator company and the building will still be the same size, it will simply be less stories.
Still, in the battle between Trump and local boy Harry Stinson to build the tallest residential Tower in the country, it seems that Trump has won by default as Stinson has recently declared bankruptcy. Of course, all this will be moot if 1 Bloor comes to fruition.
Trump wouldn't go into specifics on exactly how many units have been sold or what percentage of units have been sold, simply saying they have sold $300 million worth of units. This may be because he honestly doesn't know, or because the number still is not all that impressive.
Photo by Ryan.
Comments (8)
There's something about Trump that no matter what he is actually saying, it always looks like he is dropping an F-bomb.
Ah........Donald Trump putting Toronto on the map.
Very good, gives this city more international exposure. That is a good thing.
Wonder how expensive the suites are going to be.
Das Brain
Trump Tower, is a great addition to our village of TO.
It is designed by Zeidler Partnership , designers of Eaton Centre, Ontario Place, and owners of 401 Richmond and The Gladstone Hotel.
Steve: who wants to live there? corporations buy units, Gordon Gecko-like types who are happy to contribute to our city's growth and helping transform an busy ugly intersection into architectural piece and business entity.
Right across the street, Adelaide Centre erected, and together with new mixed/commercial developments: RBC, Festival Tower, Ritz-Carlton, Telus Tower, waterfront w/Chorus as the anchor tenant, Shangri-la, we're finally becoming a global metropolis.
Toronto's streets are dirty - anyone been to New York lately? it's sparkling - and the pavements are broken. Falafel shacks (my kinda food nonetheless) decorate downtown's core. They don't belong there anymore.
We live in a connected world and thus must compete globally, and that's what you're going to see for the next 20 years.
Trump is not intended for Torontonians to live, it's a support mechanism for the global financial sector, and we all going to benefit from it.
Das: you can get a unit from about a million right now.
Yossi Kaplan, Realtor.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS