Trump Digs Himself Out of a Hole in Chicago
Donald Trump has been claiming he's worth $10 billion these days, which is a good thing because he may need a good chunk of it if expects to dig himself out of the mess he now finds himself in. The Wall Street Journal checks in on Trump's 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago today, and finds that the situation pretty dire. It turns out Trump owes a lot of money to a lot of people, and he's been having difficulty finding people who want to live in his gold and marble palace. The credit crunch, declining housing market and weak retail sales? They're not helping either!
Unlike most Trumpian projects—he licenses his name to a developer, collects a fee, and assumes no risk—Trump developed the Chicago tower himself and borrowed from banks to finance constriction. If it's ever finished, it will be the tallest building constructed in the U.S. since the Sears Tower. (In case you're wondering, yes, this is the project that Bill Rancic, the winner of The Apprentice, worked on.) But he has a ways to go until then.
Trump now owes lenders as much as $1 billion and a fairly substantial sum is due on November 1st. Trump is now in negotiations to extend the loans, but even assuming he pushes back the date, the longer-term outlook is not encouraging. Trump has only closed on $200 million in condo sales so far ($380 million worth of apartments are still in contract) and the 100,000-square-foot retail space managed by his son, Eric, is still for sale with few interested buyers.
Trump says he isn't worried. Unlike previous near-bankruptcies when his own personal fortune was endangered, too, Trump says any problems in Chicago won't have an impact on his other businesses. So, no, the lines of bottled water and steak aren't going anywhere, unfortunately.
