Industry News

TRUMP PLANS CONDO TOWER IN TAMPA, FLORIDA

Real estate mogul Donald Trump will put his name on the Tampa skyline with the construction of a $220-million luxury high-rise which will be Florida's tallest residential building on the Gulf Coast.

The ritzy 52-story Trump Tower Tampa will be built on a now-vacant lot on the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. Residence will range from $700,000 to $5.5 million, and will include such perks as valet services, exotic wood finishes and imported marble floors with inlaid onyx. The high-rise also will have restaurants and retail shops.

Construction will begin in April 2005, and the building could be ready for occupancy near the end of 2007.

''Frankly, having the Trump name in Tampa is going to be great,'' Trump said in a video.

He said he became interested in Tampa after visiting his friend, New York Yankees owner and longtime Tampa resident George Steinbrenner, here many times.

Trump Tower Tampa will feature 190 homes, ranging in size from nearly 2,000 square feet to just over 6,100-square feet. The property is touted by local leaders as a boost to efforts to revitalize downtown and encourage people to live there.

Trump said he believed the development would generate interest for other builders in Tampa's downtown. ''Other people will be going to Tampa because I've gone and led the path,'' he said. "Supposedly, I know what I'm doing.''

The Tampa City Council had approved the site for development as luxury homes in June.

Tampa area developers SimDag-RoBEL, the builder of several luxury beach-front condominiums projects in neighboring Pinellas County, will be Trump's partners.

The Tampa firm Smith Barnes Santiesteban Architecture Inc., is designing the tower.

The tower also will be Tampa's tallest building at 10 stories higher than the city's current top skyscraper, called 100 North Tampa.

The Trump tower, while impressive for Florida's west coast, is only about half as tall as Trump World Tower in Manhattan, whose 90 stories allows it to lay claim to being one of the tallest residential building in the world.

The tallest residential building in Florida is the 70-story Four Seasons Hotel in Miami.

Trump is no stranger to southeast Florida, but a venture on the more subdued west coast is new ground for the billionaire.

In Palm Beach, Trump is best known for converting the historic estate once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post and E.F. Hutton, Mar-a-Lago, into a luxury private club and its nearby $40-million Trump International Golf Club.

He also has several high-rise projects, condo hotels, in the Miami area.

For more information on Trump International, please call Condo Hotel Center at (305) 944-3090 or send an e-mail to info@condohotelcenter.com.