DONALD Trump has a new game plan for his “Tower of Power.”
Don’t hold your breath to see commercial condominiums any time soon at the ever-in-the-news GM Building “at Trump International Plaza.”
Last year, Trump – who took control of the property along with Conseco Capital Partners Insurance in 1998 – announced he would break with Manhattan custom and sell, as well as lease, office space in what he termed the “Tower of Power.”
Now the gods seem to have something different in mind for Edward Durrell Stone’s white-marble monolith at Fifth Avenue at 58th Street.
Trump said yesterday, “My original concept was condos. But now with the higher market for rentals, I’m going to leave my options open.”
Trump says the tower is almost 100 percent leased. “I thought we’d get $65 a square foot,” he says. “But now we’re getting $100” from newly signed tenants – a claim backed up by brokers who have no involvement with the building.
There’s no question that the frenzy for space continues to awe landlords and brokers alike. But there’s more to what’s going on at GM than Trump’s desire to cash in on the raging rental scene.
Carmel, Ind.-based Conseco, coming off a failed foray into consumer lending, “has tremendous financial problems,” says one source knowledgable about the situation.
“They’ve asked Trump to hold off on condoizing GM until such time as the firm can resolve its problems.”
A different source put it:
“Donald made this deal with Conseco when Stephen Hilbert was the CEO,” our source says. “And Hilbert is outta there.”
That deal – as The Post reported last spring – saw Trump invest only $15 million to $20 million of a total purchase cost of $800 million, with most of the funds coming from a Lehman Bros. loan.
The deal calls for Trump to get 50 percent of GM’s profits after all parties are paid back their initial investments.
But last month, Conseco was battered by a 64 percent earnings decline, resulting in its being taken over by Boston-based LBO king Thomas Lee.
Now, “Conseco’s under water,” the source said. “They’re taking a hard look at GM and what Trump’s doing there.” Conseco representatives did not return calls.
Another source notes that the market for commercial condos in Manhattan is limited because “American companies don’t like to tie up capital in real estate.”
New York’s few office condos, such as Minskoff Equities’ at 1166 Sixth Ave., are exceptions to the rule.
One source said that at GM, although Trump “is getting $100 a square foot for tiny pieces, the real question is what happens when the bigger leases come up” – such as investment bank Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Trump sounded confident about getting top dollar at GM as various leases “come up over time.”
Since taking over the management contract, Trump has put his unmistakable stamp all over the tower, widely unloved despite an array of prestigious office tenants including Estee Lauder and the popular F.A.O. Schwarz toy store at street level.
The building’s street-level auto showroom seemed consciously installed to insult the corner’s teeming pedestrian life.
Trump tossed “the Chevys,” as he mocked the showroom, and brought in the new sidewalk CBS studio for Bryant Gumbel’s morning show. He began rebuilding the old sunken plaza with its hodgepodge of stores (he says the new, street-level plaza will be finished by September.)
And, of course, he installed his name in giant block letters all over the tower’s facade – front, back, and sides.
Not all the changes were to everyone’s liking. Law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which has 10 floors, complained about the glitzy new touches.
The Sherry-Netherland hotel across the street whined that crowds outside the TV studio would interfere with its guests.
Meanwhile, Trump went merrily ahead and signed up prestigious new office tenants, including an Internet division of London-based Harrods.
Trump’s reputation in New York is based mainly on his residential development and conversions. But a few years back, he bought the empty deco skyscraper known as 40 Wall St. for a song, restored it and filled its offices to 100 percent occupancy.
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Rockefeller Center Properties Inc. Trust announced yesterday it was seeking bids for the sale of Rockefeller Center – confirming PAGE SIX’s exclusive story last week that the landmark complex was going on the block.
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