Trump Tower occupancy rate drops: report
Occupancy rates at Trump Tower have plunged over the last several years, despite the luxury property’s prime Manhattan location, according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg.
President Trump’s namesake tower, built in 1983, has reportedly seen occupancy drop over from 99 percent to 83 percent since 2012.
Property records obtained by Bloomberg showed at least 13 condos sold in the tower since Trump’s 2016 election, including eight transactions that resulted in inflation-adjusted losses for sellers.{mosads}
In comparison, just 57 homes out of 24,871 third-party sales in Manhattan sold over the past two years at a loss, according to PropertyShark data obtained by Bloomberg.
Residents told the news outlet that the building has been turned into a fortress because of the extra security.
Michael Sklar sold his parents’ 57th floor unit for $1.83 million in October after they spent $400,000 to remodel the property, according to Bloomberg.
The unit was purchased in 2004 for $1.4 million, an estimated $1.84 million after adjusting for inflation.
Sklar told Bloomberg that “no one wants in that building.”
His mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, was forced by security after the election to have cab drivers drop her off hundreds of feet from the front door, Sklar said, adding that she struggled on the long walk to the building’s entrance.
“The name on the building became a problem,” Sklar said.
Trump Tower has also reportedly struggled to fill more than 42,000 square feet of vacant commercial office space, spread across five floors, despite below-average prices.
Prices for the open space ranged from $72 to $85 per square foot annually in January but prices are currently listed as negotiable, according to Bloomberg.
Trump used the site as his 2016 campaign headquarters, and his 2020 reelection team is still located at the building, which has given its revenue a boost. The campaign committee has spent more than $890,000 over the last two years to rent space in the tower, according to Federal Election Commission records.
However, the building’s net income is roughly 26 percent lower than what bankers expected it to be when Trump applied for a $100 million loan in 2012, Bloomberg noted.
The 58-story building was where Trump filmed his reality show “The Apprentice” and once attracted celebrities like Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg.
Most recently it has been mentioned as the site of the June 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller wrote in his report, released in redacted form last month, that he considered charging Trump campaign officials with campaign finance violation over the meeting but lacked sufficient evidence.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..