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Video over at thestar.com:
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/266441

Trump set for towering debut

After false starts and design changes, property mogul's luxury condo-hotel project is finally slated to begin



Oct 13, 2007 04:30 AM
Tony Wong
Business Reporter

Donald Trump, it seems, can't stop himself from making money. At least in Canada.
When he first invested in the Trump International Hotel & Tower in 2001, the Canadian dollar was near a historic low of 63 cents to the U.S. dollar. Yesterday, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project at Bay and Adelaide Sts., the loonie closed at $1.0276, near a historic high, making his investment a lot sweeter.
"People are saying, `Great play,' but I actually didn't mean to invest because of the dollar. I just ended up being a genius for all the wrong reasons," Trump said in an interview in the great room of the private National Club, which sits beside his proposed 57-storey building in Toronto's financial district. The Donald's $2.9 billion net worth, according to Forbes Magazine, is in U.S. dollars, so he finds himself with greatly diminished buying power outside his own country. But his international investments, including in Scotland, where he is building a golf course, and Canada have helped to hedge his bets.
When the Toronto edifice is completed in 2010, it is expected to be one of the tallest residential buildings in the city, with 118 homes and 261 hotel rooms.
This is the first time the Trump brand has been available in Canada, although you can find Trump steaks, Trump Vodka and Trump Casinos elsewhere.
Yesterday, the New York developer sported a white cotton shirt and light blue silk tie, from his Trump clothing collection, that he was quick to point out are "the best-selling shirt and tie at Macy's."
The groundbreaking ceremony, complete with gold-plated Trump-style shovels, even featured Trump dirt. Or at least dirt with big letters reading TRUMP.
The Donald and fellow billionaire Alex Shnaider put the first symbolic shovels in the ground.
"This is a good moment, because we are building a landmark that will be on postcards, so it does give us a lot of satisfaction," Shnaider said in an interview.
Trump is the 314th-richest billionaire, according to Forbes. Shnaider is only 557th, with his $1.8 billion, but he is Canada's youngest billionaire.
Shnaider, 39, is expected to take possession of the penthouse, which is valued at $20 million (Canadian), making it the most expensive condominium in the country.
This is a project that many in the real estate community thought would never happen – and some still harbour doubts, despite the public groundbreaking.
In a market mad for luxury condos, the Trump project certainly has taken longer than expected. It was first announced three years ago. Competitor Ritz Carlton has taken only 14 months to break ground.
"We wanted to do it right," Trump said yesterday.
He said units worth $300 million and representing 70 per cent of the building are pre-sold.
Construction starts next week.
Is he worried that too many luxury hotels are competing in the Toronto market, with a Ritz Carlton, Shangri-La and Four Seasons about to be built?
Toronto "should easily support the activity," Trump said.
"We were one of the first, and they saw us coming, so all these other great brands have started going forward with their own projects."
Meanwhile, Trump said he's definitely not happy with a proposal by Toronto Mayor David Miller to double the land transfer tax as one way to help the city out of a fiscal crunch.
Council votes on the proposal this month.
"This is a big negative," Trump said.
"People won't come in and invest. The less tax you have, the better it is for people like us coming in to invest in the city. It's a very negative tax for Toronto that will stop business."
This is a busy time for Trump. In two weeks, he begins shooting the seventh season of his popular TV show The Apprentice, this time using celebrities.
"We're just casting now. We have some really incredible celebrities up for it."
Would he consider using Canadian celebrities, such as Celine Dion or Wayne Gretzky?
"I love them both. They're good friends of mine, but I don't know if they'd want to do it."
 
When asked why he chose Toronto over other Canadian locations, such as Montreal and Vancouver, Trump said he loves the city -- and the prime downtown location tipped the scales.
"We were able to buy the single, best piece of land in Toronto," Trump said.

Seems like very few of the locals on this thread agree with the quote above. How come? Is it based solely on the view? How about this instead, Is the Trump location the best business corner location in the CBD?
 
It's a good business corner location, a very good one, but the best?

Why use superlatives like that? Trump is always spouting on like that, everything has to be 'number one', etc., but it doesn't matter. It's not at King and Bay, which most agree is 'best', but it is only one corner north at Bay and Adelaide. The fact that it's not at the centre point doesn't diminish the project, it's still close enough.

42
 
While being a close walk, cab ride or limo ride to all things wonderful and connected to PATH this area is pretty dead and depressing after 7pm. Many south, south eastern and south western views will be obstructed being so close to Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO towers. Other high end projects such as Four Seasons, Ritz, Festival Tower, Shangri-La etc. offer much more vibrant locations and for the most part, much better city and lake views. If I had the money to live this lifestyle I wouldn't even consider Trump for those reasons, nothing do to with the brand or the man himself.
 
I don't believe when they say they couldn't get the elevators to work. For what reason would that be?

I'm as mystified as everyone else though I'm wondering if the very small footprint of the site has anything to do with it or is it just a very feeble excuse.
 
I'm as mystified as everyone else though I'm wondering if the very small footprint of the site has anything to do with it or is it just a very feeble excuse.

I believe that is the reason they would use. They could have always made a second elevator lobby somewhere in the middle of the building too, if that's the case.
 
I don't believe when they say they couldn't get the elevators to work. For what reason would that be?

Neither do I.

Was it a problem havin so many tennants per floor with the number of elevators they had planned? Probably.... due to 6 units per floor in most of the building

Would they have worked? Probably but might require waiting longer for an elevator

You have to admit that it sounds better than stating it was due to slow sales
 
During the sales phase they realized the smaller units were selling better. So they added a lot of smaller units at the expense of the larger ones. But this meant they would need more elevator capacity as there would be more people using the elevators. Putting in additional elevator capacity probably meant redesigning everything. An easier solution was to cut the height. Or at least that's how I read it.
 
I'm having trouble finding out the latest height with 80 pages full of height and design changes.

Could somebody clarify:

Height ..
...to the top of the roof - ___
...to the top of the spire - ___
...to the top of the antenna - ___

Thanks :)
 
1572586351_eac91c8841_b.jpg
 
Talon/Lewis has good taste: my future toy shall be a Casagrande B180HD piling rig--not a CASA Grande Condo;)
http://www.iceusa.com/casa/pdf/B180HD - Fax.pdf
http://www.casagrandegroup.com/fondazioni/eng/prodotti_scheda.php?idfamiglia=3&idprodotto=12

compare casagrande's sales growth to condo sale's growth? interesting trend predictor? http://www.casagrandegroup.com/fondazioni/eng/company_performance.php

Did it take so long 'cause they shipped it from Russia? http://www.budtech.com/casagrande.htm
no they likely got it from New Jersey dealer!

Where are these beasts manufactured? Why in that little country of the cedars: Lebanon!
http://www.sehnaouiplant.com/profile.php

does anyone else find these details interesting? from Tonka's to Trump, 'tis my curiousity....
 

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