Stalled Condo Projects Tarnish Trump's Name

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Even the Trump name isn't bigger than the calamitous condo market.

Donald Trump's reputation as a real-estate developer could take a hit as some condominium projects emblazoned with his famous name run into trouble.

In recent years, Mr. Trump has lent his name, and in some cases his own money, to at least 20 projects in the U.S. and another half dozen abroad, including buildings in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates and Seoul, South Korea. While in some cities such projects are doing fine, others face slow sales, project delays and cancellations -- and irate buyers.


In Tampa, Fla., buyers who placed deposits of $200,000 to $1.2 million on units in the 52-story Trump Tower Tampa are fuming. Nearly three years after the $260 million skyscraper was started, construction has stopped.

Meantime, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., tower with Mr. Trump's name on it was put on hold indefinitely last month, and a West Palm Beach project could be put on the shelf shortly. Construction on a Trump Tower in Toronto is just getting under way after years of delays and a reduction in height. And at Trump Tower Chicago, a hotel and condo project set to be the second tallest building in the city after the Sears Tower, 30% of the 825 units remain unsold as the condo market there slows.

Mr. Trump is known for focusing on the positive. "All of my stuff has been a great success," he said in an interview Wednesday. "Nobody has even come close to the track record that I have." He points to many other projects he is involved in that he considers outsized successes, including ones in Las Vegas, Hollywood, Fla., Miami, New York, Hawaii and the Dominican Republic. "Somebody says 'how's the market?' I say not good except for Trump," he says.

The Donald sure knows how to positive spin something.