interested
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From the Wall Street Journal Today: Seems the Trump woes are making newspapers outside the country.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304331204577356131349238626.html
Weak Start for Trump Site
By ALISTAIR MACDONALD
TORONTO—Donald Trump cut the ribbon on this city's latest luxury hotel and condominium tower last week, but a number of early condo buyers in the project are trying to back out, and initial sales have disappointed.
Mr. Trump flew in last Monday to officially open the Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 65-story tower in the heart of Toronto's financial district. It is one of several luxury hotel and condo projects that has either opened or is about to open here.
Donald Trump, with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, licensed his name for a condo-hotel, which faces slow sales and bouts of buyers' remorse.
Talon International Development Inc., the Toronto privately owned lead developer, has been marketing residential condos starting at $2.3 million and hotel condos, where rental incomes are pooled and shared with buyers, at $967,000 and up.
At least eight sets of hotel-condo investors have hired or contacted lawyers to help them get out of their contracts and recoup their initial $212,700 deposits, according to their legal representatives. Meanwhile, the tower has sold 60% of its condos and 85% of its hotel condos, according to Talon, lower than several rival developments.
A Talon spokesman said the problem of buyers wanting to get out of contracts is "not unique to Trump." He said the weak global economy had hurt overall sales, particularly given the high price of units on offer. He said the bulk of properties had been sold and sales will pick up now that the tower is officially open.
"Their financial situation has changed, and they have been in the development for a while," the spokesman said. The project cost Talon 500 million Canadian dollars ($503.9 million). Originally slated to open in 2009, Talon said weather and the project's confined site in downtown Toronto delayed construction.
The slower-than-expected sales and the bout of buyers' remorse come as economists and some Canadian officials have warned that Toronto's condo market, where prices have soared, may be overbuilt and headed for a correction.
Mr. Trump, who licensed his name to the project but has only a minor equity stake, shrugs off worry about the market's health.
"You never know about cycles. Where does it start? Where does it end? You can guestimate," he said in a brief interview. "But it is a great city, and we built a great product."
The Trump condos are some of the priciest in Toronto, currently selling between C$1,700 and C$1,800 a square foot. That compares with a city average of some C$530 a square foot, according to N. Barry Lyon Consulting Ltd.
Lawyers for some of the buyers trying to get out of their contracts said their clients invested ahead of the global financial crisis and now find themselves struggling and unable to complete their purchase.
"They were dazzled by the Trump name and marketing, and they did not take into consideration that they were paying in excess of a thousand dollars a foot," said Bob Aaron, a Toronto real-estate lawyer who is representing several clients seeking to exit from the tower. Another Toronto lawyer, Leonard Banks, confirmed he was negotiating on behalf of a separate client who wants out of the Trump tower.
One U.K. investor tried to negotiate an exit with Talon and recoup his deposit last year but ultimately abandoned the effort after deciding it would be too costly, according to another attorney representing the investor. A group of Irish investors has also contacted this attorney and was considering trying to get out of their contract.
Real-estate observers say Canadian contracts are harder to break than those in the U.S. and U.K., but it isn't impossible.
In 2009, U.S. investor Richard E. Schneeberg won approval from a Canadian court to exit his contract and reclaim his deposit. He argued that since the project was delayed, he could break his contract.
Talon challenged that, saying it had a right to extend closing the transaction. But last year, the decision in Mr. Schneeberg's favor was upheld in an Ontario Court of Appeal. Mr. Schneeberg wasn't available for comment.
—Chip Cummins contributed to this article.
Write to Alistair MacDonald at alistair.macdonald@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304331204577356131349238626.html
Weak Start for Trump Site
By ALISTAIR MACDONALD
TORONTO—Donald Trump cut the ribbon on this city's latest luxury hotel and condominium tower last week, but a number of early condo buyers in the project are trying to back out, and initial sales have disappointed.
Mr. Trump flew in last Monday to officially open the Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 65-story tower in the heart of Toronto's financial district. It is one of several luxury hotel and condo projects that has either opened or is about to open here.
Donald Trump, with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, licensed his name for a condo-hotel, which faces slow sales and bouts of buyers' remorse.
Talon International Development Inc., the Toronto privately owned lead developer, has been marketing residential condos starting at $2.3 million and hotel condos, where rental incomes are pooled and shared with buyers, at $967,000 and up.
At least eight sets of hotel-condo investors have hired or contacted lawyers to help them get out of their contracts and recoup their initial $212,700 deposits, according to their legal representatives. Meanwhile, the tower has sold 60% of its condos and 85% of its hotel condos, according to Talon, lower than several rival developments.
A Talon spokesman said the problem of buyers wanting to get out of contracts is "not unique to Trump." He said the weak global economy had hurt overall sales, particularly given the high price of units on offer. He said the bulk of properties had been sold and sales will pick up now that the tower is officially open.
"Their financial situation has changed, and they have been in the development for a while," the spokesman said. The project cost Talon 500 million Canadian dollars ($503.9 million). Originally slated to open in 2009, Talon said weather and the project's confined site in downtown Toronto delayed construction.
The slower-than-expected sales and the bout of buyers' remorse come as economists and some Canadian officials have warned that Toronto's condo market, where prices have soared, may be overbuilt and headed for a correction.
Mr. Trump, who licensed his name to the project but has only a minor equity stake, shrugs off worry about the market's health.
"You never know about cycles. Where does it start? Where does it end? You can guestimate," he said in a brief interview. "But it is a great city, and we built a great product."
The Trump condos are some of the priciest in Toronto, currently selling between C$1,700 and C$1,800 a square foot. That compares with a city average of some C$530 a square foot, according to N. Barry Lyon Consulting Ltd.
Lawyers for some of the buyers trying to get out of their contracts said their clients invested ahead of the global financial crisis and now find themselves struggling and unable to complete their purchase.
"They were dazzled by the Trump name and marketing, and they did not take into consideration that they were paying in excess of a thousand dollars a foot," said Bob Aaron, a Toronto real-estate lawyer who is representing several clients seeking to exit from the tower. Another Toronto lawyer, Leonard Banks, confirmed he was negotiating on behalf of a separate client who wants out of the Trump tower.
One U.K. investor tried to negotiate an exit with Talon and recoup his deposit last year but ultimately abandoned the effort after deciding it would be too costly, according to another attorney representing the investor. A group of Irish investors has also contacted this attorney and was considering trying to get out of their contract.
Real-estate observers say Canadian contracts are harder to break than those in the U.S. and U.K., but it isn't impossible.
In 2009, U.S. investor Richard E. Schneeberg won approval from a Canadian court to exit his contract and reclaim his deposit. He argued that since the project was delayed, he could break his contract.
Talon challenged that, saying it had a right to extend closing the transaction. But last year, the decision in Mr. Schneeberg's favor was upheld in an Ontario Court of Appeal. Mr. Schneeberg wasn't available for comment.
—Chip Cummins contributed to this article.
Write to Alistair MacDonald at alistair.macdonald@wsj.com
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