With Donald Trump too busy accepting beauty queens' apologies and calling people fat and ugly, Julius Schwarz, the executive vice president of Trump partner the Bayrock Group, is left to take the heat on Trump Soho. The Buildings Department lifted the stop work order on the "condo-hotel" site in the wake of BoneGate, but remember, they're only allowed to do excavation work right now. Trump and Co. still have to answer to UsageGate, and the Downtown Express' Lincoln Anderson really piled it on to poor Mr. Schwarz, who?trust him!?is really really sorry. Pardon the long excerpt, but it's entertaining to see a man jump through this many hoops:
However, the Trump Soho Hotel’s own Web site recently listed a questionnaire asking potential buyers if they were interested in using the condos as “primary residence,” “secondary residence” or “investment opportunity.” Borough President Scott Stringer noticed this and contacted the developers, who pulled the questionnaire off the site. Schwarz said it was a generic form that shouldn’t have been posted.
“I apologize for that,” he said.
A few other real estate Web sites not affiliated with the project also described the condo-hotel as offering full-time residences, but Schwarz said they have been sent a cease-and-desist notice and that the condo-hotel’s own Web site now explicitly states the condos cannot be used as residences.
Stringer’s office received a marketing brochure that described the condos as having “kitchenettes,” including dishwashers. Again, Stringer complained that this indicated a residential use. Schwarz said that was another mistake and that any references to kitchenettes or dishwashers have been removed from the marketing materials. The rooms will be standard luxury hotel rooms and the owners will not be allowed to alter them, he said. Each will have a mini-bar, half-refrigerator and sink in its main room, but Schwarz said this hardly qualifies as a kitchenette, and that a sink in the main room (in addition to one in the bathroom) is standard for any five-star hotel.
Berman, for his part, noticed that the city’s tourist agency, NYC & Co., in a press release on hotels, noted in passing that the Trump Soho condo-hotel would allow “year-round” occupancy.
“When we spoke to NYC & Co., it was just a hotel,” Schwarz said. “So it could have been an error.”
Anyone else read that with Benny Hill music playing in their head?
· City lets Trump resume work; partner admits mistakes [Downtown Express]
· Soho Update: Trump's Hole Getting Bigger [Curbed]
· Trump Soho [trumpsoho.com]