Trump (Tower) Gets Chopped Down to Size

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough that after 6 years since the project was announced, Trump Tower still isn't anything more than a nifty Sales Centre at Bay and Adelaide, it was just announced that the project will be cut back from the original 70 storeys to a not-as-impressive 57.

To say that sales have been slow is an understatement. Dozens of condo towers have been conceived, pre-sold, built, inhabited, and the units resold since Trump first informed Toronto that he had eyes for us way back in 2001. (Those were the good old days of Real Estate in Toronto, when a quarter million used to get you a palace in the sky. Nowadays you can barely get your foot in the door of the condo market for $250,000!)

Trump's representatives say that the cut back to the height of the towers has more to do with mechanical issues than with the admittedly lackluster sales. Anecdotally, there are those in the city's Real Estate and Development circles who still aren't convinced the Tower will ever be built, despite the fact that Trump's people are saying construction will begin in September.

What's to blame for the slow sales? Back in March Trump called Toronto's Real Estate Market 'soft'. In response the Toronto Real Estate Market proceeded to have record sales in April, May, and June. Most likely the astronomical prices of the suites combined with the questionable location (dead-centre in the financial district) were important factors explaining why sales were so poor.

Photo from the blogTO Flickr pool.