By: Ezra Ashkenazi
For a long time, the Trump International Hotel and Tower has been a staple of New York City. Soaring over Central Park, the building is the crown jewel of Trump’s hotel and private residency business. The building famously features the President’s family name three times around the tower, in a way that makes it impossible to miss. However, this fall, the Trump Organization will replace the signage which features Trump’s name, as a result of the strain the President has put on the business with his controversial presidency.
The fact that many people dislike Trump as a president, has obviously led people to boycott the hotels, causing the Trump Organization to lose a lot of money. So the building will lose “Trump” from its signing to make the building’s association with the Trumps as minimal as possible.
According to a New York Times article, “The company is considering a proposal that would change the signage so that the Trump name is no longer directly associated with the private residences, according to people with knowledge of the proposal.” Instead, the company will feature the tower’s Manhattan address, One Central Park West, on the signing. The proposal was originally offered by President Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., this past summer.
If this plan would be approved and the Trump name is removed from the Monumental tower, there will be no more Trump towers in New York that still bare the Trump name. Even though the other buildings have lost the Trump name, this signature property was considered untouchable when it came to removing the Trump name. The board believes that ever since the president has announced his run for presidency back in 2015, the buildings performance hasn’t been the same, and ever since Trump was inaugurated, the performance had fallen even lower.
According to the New York Times, “Since Mr. Trump took office in January 2017, the price of units sold in the Trump building has dropped an average of 23 percent compared with similar units sold in the same building during the campaign.” In addition, the average price per square foot has fell 29 percent after 2015. In spite of all of this, Rebecca Mason, the managing director of CityRealty, said, “It remains a very desirable building for international buyers.” The Trump organization has a lot of thinking to do, and they hope they make the right decision to ensure the success of the Trump international Hotel and Tower.
