Trump Tower (Tampa)

Trump Tower Tampa was the name of an unfinished condominium project located in downtown Tampa, Florida. The construction of the towers was never started due to the economic collapse of the real estate market. The building would have been visible from the end of Bayshore Boulevard and Tampa General Hospital on the Hillsborough River waterline. Ground was broken on March 2, 2006,^[1] and in July 2007 the foundation footings were drilled. Brownstone Partners Tampa, an investment group led by Robert Owens of OR&L Facility Services, acquired the property on June 20, 2011. Saint Petersburg based Feldman Equities filed plans with the city in late July, 2015, for a very similar 52-floor tower on the same property.^[2]

Overview

As of March 9, 2007, the fence surrounding the construction site was taken down and some of the construction equipment was gone; although two cranes remained. On March 9, 2007 the developers acknowledged in a press release that, "Cost overruns won't be the only obstacles Related [Related Group, the development company] faces. Soil issues at the site, unpaid contractors and a general perception from the community that the 52-story luxury condominium tower will never be built also stand in the way of making the tower a success."^[3]

On May 30, 2007, Donald Trump demanded his name be removed from the project, and sued the developers for over $1 million in unpaid license fees for the use of the Trump name. On the same day, the phone at the developer's office was listed as disconnected.^[4] Buyers who put down 20 percent deposits of units priced from $700,000 to $6 million only got half their money refunded and lawsuits were filed against Trump.^[5]

After acquiring the property in a June 2011 deal, Robert Owens told the Wall Street Journal that he planned to build a mixed-use complex with retail, offices and a hotel or condominiums there. This plan did not come to fruition.

In 2015, a joint venture of developer Larry Feldman's Feldman Equities and investment firm Tower Realty Partners paid $12.1 million for the 1.5-acre site, with plans to build a new 52-story building containing condos, office space, shops, and restaurants. The new planned building, named Riverwalk Tower, is slated to open in 2018.^[6]

References