Trump Sues Tower Partner

Tampa Tribune reports:

Real estate mogul Donald Trump is suing the developer struggling to build the 52-story, riverfront Trump Tower Tampa condominiums, saying he's owed money for the rights to use his name on the project.

Trump licensed the use of his name to Tampa-based SimDag LLC for $2.8 million and a 50 percent cut of profit from the sale of luxury condominium units planned for the project, the lawsuit states. Trump filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa late Friday, alleging SimDag has breached its contract and is in default on monthly payments of $129,091.

SimDag has not made payments since October and owes Trump at least $1 million, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit is the latest setback for the project, which has been beset with financing and construction difficulties. The developers have yet to break ground on the building.

This month, Trump sent SimDag a letter seeking to terminate the licensing agreement and telling the developer to 'immediately discontinue any and all uses of the New Trump Mark and make no further use of the name whatsoever.'

SimDag has not met terms of the licensing agreement, which called for construction on the building to start by April 27, 2006, and for SimDag to sell 70 percent of the condominium units by April 27, according to the lawsuit.

The suit first was reported by The Tampa Tribune on TBO.com Tuesday.

SimDag executives and the company's spokesman, David Hooks, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The company's office phone is disconnected. Trump declined to answer questions but said through his assistant, Rhona Graff, that 'the lawsuit speaks for itself.'

Trump Tower was announced with much fanfare in early 2005. But the luxury high-rise project has struggled to go vertical. Construction activity stalled in November. On Tuesday, there was no equipment on the vacant site.

SimDag boasted it had sold out of condo units shortly after announcing the tower project, but the company has acknowledged that some buyers have dropped out. SimDag has passed along at least $40 million in construction increases to buyers who had signed up to purchase units.

You've got to love the "truth" by the real estate lobby.