Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Donald Trump sues as tower is hit by credit crunch
The Times ^ | 11/11/2008 | Tom Leonard in New York

Posted on 11/11/2008 11:02:52 PM PST by bruinbirdman

Donald Trump is suing Deutsche Bank and other finance houses for $3 billion (£1.9 billion) after they cut funding to his project to build America's second biggest tower.

Mr Trump, a luxury hotel developer and star of the television show The Apprentice, claims the banks broke agreements over building and financing the 92-storey Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago.

He had been trying to extend a $640 million (£415 million) construction loan from the group, which includes Merrill Lynch, Union Labour Life Insurance, a property investment trust called iStar Financial and a division of Highland Capital Management.

The 1,361ft high development, with 339 hotel rooms and 486 apartments, is due to be completed next year.

But sales of the flats and hotel rooms have been hit by the property slump, and the development's projected revenue is now some $100 million short of what is needed to pay off the main lenders.

Mr Trump's lawsuit, filed in New York, accuses Deutsche Bank of selling off pieces of the loan to "so many institutions, banks, junk bond firms, and virtually anybody that seemed to come along" that they were unable to agree on how to deal with the financial shortfall.

Mr Trump has put $77 million of his own money into the tower, which he could lose in the event of a foreclosure.

Deutsche Bank has declined to comment but Steven Schlesinger, a lawyer for Mr Trump, said its "dysfunctional" behaviour "in connection with big loans is a sign of the times".

Chicago – which, in the Sears Tower, boasts America's tallest building – has been hit particularly badly hit by the property downturn after a decade in which its skyline was transformed by a skyscraper construction boom.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: credit; lawsuit; thedonald; trump

1 posted on 11/11/2008 11:02:52 PM PST by bruinbirdman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman

Call up Obama, Donny. He’ll get things sorted out right quick.


2 posted on 11/11/2008 11:06:29 PM PST by wastedyears (Every FReeper is on Obama's Black List. He will try to have us all "taken care of." Mark my words)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman
How could The Donald, the smartest man in the world, not have seen the financial meltdown coming?

You're fired, boy.

3 posted on 11/12/2008 1:03:12 AM PST by snarks_when_bored
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: snarks_when_bored

I’d fire him just for that lousy hair thing clinging to his head.


4 posted on 11/12/2008 1:06:15 AM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: count-your-change

It’s the comb-over from Hell...


5 posted on 11/12/2008 1:59:43 AM PST by snarks_when_bored
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: snarks_when_bored
It’s the comb-over from Hell...

I always thought it was a cat curled up on his head. I wondered how he got it to sit so still all the time. Maybe it's dead?

6 posted on 11/12/2008 4:51:41 AM PST by Thermalseeker (Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling is ever a Mark of Folly. - B. Franklin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: bruinbirdman

This has nothing to do with anything, I know but I just have to say how much I despise this creep. I always have thought he was a moron in everything but making money. If that is important to anyone. he’s you man. If having some intelligence and being stand up is important he certainly is not.


7 posted on 11/12/2008 5:56:42 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson