Report: Trump Backed Out Of Some Big Promises For Old Post Office
Donald Trump has some big plans in the works at the site of the Old Post Office building, but a new reports says the presumptive 2016 Republican presidential nominee made some big promises to set those plans in motion—and then failed to deliver.
The real estate mogul’s team is busy with a $200M renovation that will see a 263-room Trump International Hotel open at the site on Pennsylvania Avenue. As part of the negotiations to secure the bid for the site, Trump’s team made some promises to the General Services Administration that it has failed to live up to, BuzzFeed reports.
Trump’s team promised to use a particular architect for the expansive project, and also indicated that financing would be secured via real estate investment firm Colony Capital. Both of these promises failed to materialize. Arthur Cotton Moore, an architect who was tantamount to the preservation of the historic building, was not retained, while the financing ended up going in another direction entirely. Instead of teaming up with Colony as advertised, Trump put the federal lease on the property up as collateral to secure a $170M loan, and is seeking a $32M tax subsidy to boot.
The Trump International Hotel project has seen its share of controversy over the past year that threatens to delay the project, but the hotel is still scheduled to open this fall. [BF]
