City Approves Trump Condo Hotel in Soho, NY

Donald Trump wins again.  He will have his New York City condo hotel. After a year-long debate, the city finally approved his construction plans on May 7, 2007 for the 45-story Trump SoHo condo hotel located at 246 Spring Street.

The planned project, backed by the Trump and the Sapir organizations, would be the first hotel in New York in an area specifically zoned for manufacturing. The plans were approved despite protests that the condo-hotel violates the zoning of the site, which prohibits any residential usage.

"There's a specific and philosophical problem with it," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. "Specifically, I think it's too large and out of context. Philosophically, I don't like the idea of having loopholes in manufacturing zones."

Trump originally applied for permits for construction in May 2006 but was rejected due to the presence of kitchens in the condo hotel, making the project seem more condo-like and, therefore, not enough hotel-like. A year later, after much public discussion with city officials and activists, Trump has finally been granted gotten the approval he was confident would come.

No word yet on when sales of the condo hotel units will begin, but you can read more about the proposed plans and see a rendering here, http://www.trumpcondohotels.com/properties/trump-soho.htm.

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