Trump on the hunt in hub: Mogul?s empire eyeing properties

[statler]

Originally Posted by The Herald

Trump on the hunt in hub: Mogul?s empire eyeing properties
By Donna Goodison and Scott Van Voorhis
Friday, August 31, 2007 - Updated: 01:07 AM EST

Could the Trump name one day be emblazoned on Boston?s skyline?
Maybe. Donald Trump?s company confirmed it?s been scouting the Hub for possible real estate development deals.
Donald Trump Jr., son of The Donald, has had a number of meetings in Boston with local real estate developer Bruce Percelay to explore opportunities, sources confirmed. The junior Trump is executive vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization.
Rhona Graff, assistant to Donald Trump Sr., confirmed the billionaire?s company has set its sights on Boston.
?They explored most of the high-end properties on the market,? Graff said. ?. . . It?s very, very early in the process.?


Percelay, chairman and founder of the Mount Vernon Co. Inc., declined comment yesterday. His Boston real estate investment company specializes in buying underused and undervalued properties, according to its Web site. Its $200 million portfolio includes apartments in Boston and Quincy, vacation properties on Nantucket and St. Barths in the French West Indies, and commercial properties in Newton and Nantucket.
The Trump family has had some ?discussions? about a real estate deal with Donald Saunders, of D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp., a Boston investment management real estate company, said one executive who was informed of the talks.
So far, however, there is no agreement, according to the executive, who could not say which Saunders properties the Trumps might be eyeing.
Saunders? flagship is the 950-room Boston Park Plaza Hotel, which he co-owns with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. Their combined holdings also include the adjacent Statler Office Building and The Castle at Park Plaza. Saunders also owns properties on Newbury Street, Arlington Street and Commonwealth Avenue, according to city records.
It might seem an odd time for Donald Trump Sr., who has a penchant for posh residential projects, to look at investing in Boston real estate. Some developers are getting cold feet about building luxury condo towers as the real estate downturn drags on.
But Trump, who was in Norton yesterday playing golf at a Deutsche Bank Championship event, told the Herald late last year that he?s looked at properties in the area for years, but the prices had simply been too high.
He hinted that might be about to change. ?Maybe people will start talking turkey,? he said.

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[palindrome]

It's about time! This could be good because the Donald usually gets his way. Some of the stuff (trump chicago) is excellent. Others leave something to be desired.

[Beton Brut]

Originally Posted by palindrome

Some of the stuff (trump chicago) is excellent.

I'll try and grab some pics of it this weekend. Same architect as the Burj Dubai I think...

[castevens]

http://www.som.com/content.cfm/www_projects

[kz1000ps]

I'm fine with The Donald coming to town as long as he doesn't use any brass on the exterior. His latest projects seem to be devoid of that material, but he was still demanding it as recently as 2000 (see Trump World Tower in NYC).

[ablarc]

^ Nearest thing to gold.

[statler]

^^ Ever notice the "nearest thing" is never nearly as good as the real thing?

Of course real gold can be tacky too...

[czsz]

How about a Trump air rights development over the Pike? He might be one of the only developers who could possibly survive the South Enders' torches and pitchforks.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Man, and you guys thought you had ugly buildings now? Wait until a Trump builds something.

\/ Seeing how I grew up near Albany I guess I was always a New Yorker. \/

[statler]

^^ "You guys", huh?
What happened Van? You used to be one of us. You a true New Yorker now?

[castevens]

I've gotten over the fact that our buildings are ugly. If I can't get quality, I'll go for quantity

[ablarc]

Originally Posted by czsz

How about a Trump air rights development over the Pike? He might be one of the only developers who could possibly survive the South Enders' torches and pitchforks.

Hey, Mr. Trump, have a look at this:



They say this is supposed to be Boston's high-rise spine.



(What's the use of a master plan if the NIMBYs can nullify it?)

[BostonSkyGuy]

I'm pleased that he's looking into Boston for developments. I always thought one of the reasons he wasn't involved in the city was because of the building process itself. Either he thinks he's going to make so much money on whatever project he builds that he thinks it's worth it to go through the process, or maybe he doesn't think the process is that bad afterall. I'm curious to know why he's decided now is a good time to look into developments here. Maybe it's because of how there's only a few decent sized projects in the pipeline and that space in 5-10 years will be at a premium in the city.

Him getting involved raises a ton of questions in my mind, but I'm excited that he sees the city as a good place for a project. This will sound crazy but I think that he could do multiple projects here because if anyone can soothe the process of building in Boston, it's Trump.

[kennedy]

Would the South Enders be afraid of his hair? Is that why they won't stab him?

[czsz]

South Enders fear nothing (except maybe minorities).

[GW2500]

I really think that Boston needs a man with a NY state of mind to help up Boston's profile. Don't kid yourself a city's skyline matters. Its not everything, but it is one of the first things you will think about when you think of qualities a REAL city has. Big Buildings close together and Boston could use a few more. God forbide we have more than three tall buildings (assuming Trans National gets built). And Trump is very NY he only builds big.

[justin]

^Yeah, I never thought Paris was a REAL city. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

[kmp1284]

Hey, we can't all be Houston.

[buju b]

I'll give you Paris [being a Real city in the absence of a major skyline] and I will likewise agree that there are numerous cities in the US (especially in the sun belt) with a lot of tall buildings but lacking much of city 'feel'.

That said, if you were to list your top 10 cities in the US and the world, I would be surprised if more than half of each list did not have a fairly dramatic skyline.

[Ron Newman]

One of my favorite cities is Amsterdam, which doesn't have tall buildings other than the old churches. Another is Florence -- ditto.