Trump Plaza (New York City)

Construction of Trump Plaza began in 1982, at the intersection of East 61st Street and Third Avenue.{{cite web|title=Trump Plaza Apartments|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/115139/trump-plaza-apartments-new-york-city-ny-usa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219213309/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/115139/trump-plaza-apartments-new-york-city-ny-usa|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 19, 2021|publisher=Emporis|access-date=July 20, 2017}} Donald Trump negotiated a 40-year deal with the owner of the land in which the building would pay an annual rent of approximately $1.2 million until 2023.{{cite news|last=Satow|first=Julie|title=Rising Costs a Concern for Land-Lease Building Owners|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/realestate/rising-costs-a-concern-for-land-lease-building-owners-in-new-york.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 12, 2015}}{{cite news|last=Carlyle|first=Erin|title=Manhattan's Trump Plaza Apartment Owners Face $1 Million Fee|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/11/06/manhattans-trump-plaza-apartment-owners-face-1-million-fee/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=Forbes|date=November 6, 2014}} Trump chose to name the project Trump Plaza to capitalize on the marketing success of his nearby Trump Tower. The project, initially expected to cost $50 million, was to contain 180 cooperative apartment units, located above {{convert|12000|sqft|abbr=on}} of retail space that would be situated on the ground floor.

Two project offices on East 61st Street, made of brownstone, were to be converted into apartments after the main structure was completed. Trump said that despite the popularity of condominiums in New York at that time, "I wanted to buck the trend. There are a lot of people who want to live in a cooperative. […] Many people find a co-op's exclusivity, the unity it gives a building, comforting. This exclusivity can be used negatively, but it has positive aspects as well." Units would range from {{convert|1200|sqft|abbr=on}} to {{convert|1900|sqft|abbr=on}}, with prices between $285,000 and $1 million.{{cite news|last=Daniels|first=Lee A.|title=About Real Estate; Upper East Side Attracts Two Mixed-Use Projects|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/07/business/about-real-estate-upper-east-side-attracts-two-mixed-use-projects.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 7, 1983}}

Sales began in April 1983, with initial prices starting at $450 per square foot. In May 1983, a construction worker died after falling 33 stories while working on the project.{{cite news|title=Worker Is Killed In 33-Story Fall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/03/nyregion/the-city-worker-is-killed-in-33-story-fall.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 3, 1983}} By July 1983, starting prices for apartment units in the project had increased six times, ultimately reaching up to $1,200 per square foot; 50 percent of the apartments had been leased up to that point.{{cite news|last=Wedemeyer|first=Dee|title=A Turn in the Market for New Apartments|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/03/realestate/a-turn-in-the-market-for-new-apartments.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1983}} The building cost $125 million to construct.

The concrete and concrete workers union labor for the building was supplied by mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno. Salerno and Trump were linked through Roy Cohn, who represented both of them. In 1986 Rudy Giuliani and the SDNY indicted Salerno on racketeering linked to the bid rigging of concrete and construction on Trump Plaza, as well as other buildings built in the era.{{Cite magazine |title=The Real-Life Mob Families of 'The Irishman'? Donald Trump Knew Them |last=Hettena |first=Seth |date=December 6, 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=16 December 2019 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-real-life-mob-families-of-the-irishman-donald-trump-knew-them-922836/}}

Trump Plaza was opened in March 1984, with 145 units.{{cite news|last=Oser|first=Alan S.|title=Retailers' Locations; Movement at the Alexander's Site|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/15/realestate/perspectives-retailers-locations-movement-at-the-alexander-s-site.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=December 15, 1985|quote=Trump Plaza, a 145-unit cooperative on the west side of the avenue between 60th and 61st Street, opened in March 1984 […].}} Notable residents included former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown Jr. and his wife Phyllis George, as well as Dick Clark and Martina Navratilova.{{cite news|last=Geist|first=William E.|title=The Expanding Empire of Donald Trump|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/magazine/the-expanding-empire-of-donald-trump.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 8, 1984}} At the time of opening, Trump owned 90 percent of the building partnership. Apartment owners, under the name of Trump Plaza Owners Inc., sued Trump in February 1990, claiming the building contained various defects. The suit sought for Trump to pay $10.7 million and to have his name removed from the building.{{cite news|title=Trump Co-Op Tenant Suit Cites Poor Workmanship|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The Press of Atlantic City|date=February 15, 1990|url-access=subscription|via=NewsLibrary}}

As of 1999, Trump still owned a few apartment units, as well as retail space and the property's parking garage.{{cite news|last=Salkin|first=Allen|title=Trump: The Smarts of the Deal|url=https://nypost.com/1999/04/18/trump-the-smarts-of-the-deal-how-donald-uses-mostly-other-peoples-money-to-build-a-kingdom-in-his-name/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=April 18, 1999}} As of 2015, the property is operated by Douglas Elliman Property Management. In 2016, to remain competitive with newer residential projects, Trump Plaza's basement gym facility was converted into a children's playroom, while the gym was relocated to a space on the first and second floor that was previously used as an apartment by the building superintendent.{{cite news|last=Kaufman|first=Joanne|title=Insert a Gym, Then a Lounge: Older Buildings Add Amenities|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/realestate/older-buildings-add-amenities-to-compete.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 22, 2016}}

Trump Plaza was designed by Philip Birnbaum and was built out in a Y-shape. The structure is made of limestone, glass, and metal, and includes five apartments on each floor, while the building includes a total of {{convert|340000|sqft|abbr=on}}. Trump, who sometimes exaggerated the number of floors in his buildings, stated that Trump Plaza was 39 stories high while it is actually 36 stories.{{cite news|last=Cheshes|first=Jay|title=Edifice Complex: Does The Donald have a size problem?|url=http://nymag.com/news/articles/shortlist/trump/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York|date=November 30, 2001|archive-date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624201201/http://nymag.com/news/articles/shortlist/trump/|url-status=dead}}

Although Birnbaum was known for simple building designs in New York City, architectural critic Paul Goldberger stated that Trump Plaza "looks as if it might be the finest building in Caracas – all of this sleekness is chic in a particularly Latin way, quite uncharacteristic of New York, despite the lavish use of limestone." Goldberger also stated that no one "could possibly mistake it for yet another Third Avenue high-rise."{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|title=Defining Luxury in New York's New Apartments|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/16/garden/defining-luxury-in-new-york-s-new-apartments.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=August 16, 1984}} Goldberger later called it "a better and more striking building than the typical Third Avenue brick box, but it is nothing if not showy."{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|title=Trump: Symbol of a Gaudy, Impatient Time|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/31/arts/architecture-view-trump-symbol-of-a-gaudy-impatient-time.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 31, 1988}}

Birnbaum was subsequently hired to design a nearby high-rise condominium known as the Savoy, to be built at the opposite intersection corner diagonally across from Trump Plaza. Birnbaum gave the Savoy a similar design to Trump Plaza, as he envisioned the buildings as the gateway to upper Third Avenue. In April 1984, Trump sued Birnbaum and Morton Olshan, owner of the Savoy, for allegedly copying the design of his building. Trump sought $60 million in damages.{{cite news|title=Postings; Building Higher|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/22/realestate/postings-building-higher.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 22, 1984}}{{cite news|title=Builder Donald Trump Monday sued his former architect|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/30/Builder-Donald-Trump-Monday-sued-his-former-architect-and/6055452145600/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=United Press International|date=April 30, 1984}} A settlement was reached in October 1984, after Olshan agreed to have his building redesigned. The Savoy was still under construction at the time.{{cite news|title=Accord Is Reached In Trump Dispute|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/10/nyregion/the-city-accord-is-reached-in-trump-dispute.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=October 10, 1984}}{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|title=Look-Alike Buildings: The Third Ave. Case|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/25/arts/critic-s-notebook-look-alike-buildings-the-third-ave-case.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=October 25, 1984}}{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|title=Design Consciousness Reached a New High|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/30/arts/architecture-view-design-consciousness-reached-a-new-high.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=December 30, 1984}}{{cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|title=What Next? A Fee for Looking?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/27/garden/design-notebook-what-next-a-fee-for-looking.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=August 27, 1998}}

In 2016, Steve Cuozzo of the New York Post stated that the area around Trump Plaza had been "a lost highway of tenements and boxy, bland apartment buildings" and that the project "inspired four more similarly configured towers on the avenue and lent some badly needed class to uptown east of Lexington Avenue."{{cite news|last=Cuozzo|first=Steve|title=How Donald Trump helped save New York City|url=https://nypost.com/2016/02/07/how-donald-trump-helped-save-new-york-city/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=February 7, 2016}}

An Italian restaurant named Alo Alo, owned by film producer Dino De Laurentiis and Brazilian business partner Ricardo Amaral, opened inside the building in 1985. By 1989, the restaurant had been sold.{{cite news|last=Duka|first=John|title=Notes on Fashion|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/05/style/notes-on-fashion.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=February 5, 1985}}{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Bryan|title=Restaurants|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/21/arts/restaurants-067052.html|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 21, 1985}}{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Bryan|title=Restaurants|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/13/arts/restaurants-834289.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 13, 1989}} In 2004, Select Comfort signed a 10-year lease to operate a {{convert|2400|sqft|abbr=on}} furniture store inside the building, replacing a restaurant known as Commissary.{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Lois|title=Another Mogull Trumps Trump|url=https://nypost.com/2004/03/03/another-mogull-trumps-trump-another-mogull-trumps-trump/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=March 3, 2004}}{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Lois|title=Flag-Waving Philips Seals Chelsea Deal|url=https://nypost.com/2003/03/26/flag-waving-phillips-seals-chelsea-deal/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=March 26, 2003}} In 2007, western retailer Billy Martin's USA opened a new {{convert|1000|sqft|abbr=on}} store inside Trump Plaza.{{cite news|last=Kapner|first=Suzanne|title=Wild West Duds Hit Trump Plaza|url=https://nypost.com/2007/07/03/wild-west-duds-hit-trump-plaza/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=July 3, 2007}} In 2012, the {{convert|2450|sqft|abbr=on}} Lobel's Kitchen opened inside the building.{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Lois|title=A $izzling sum for Scoop bldg.|url=https://nypost.com/2012/11/14/a-izzling-sum-for-scoop-bldg/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=November 14, 2012}} By April 2014, the Lobel's Kitchen space was for lease at a cost of $600,000 per year.{{cite news|last=Cuozzo|first=Steve|title=Old Navy site in Herald Square draws eye-popping price|url=https://nypost.com/2014/04/28/old-navy-site-in-herald-square-draws-eye-popping-price/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=April 28, 2014}} Within two months, American Apparel planned to open a store in the former Lobel's space.{{cite news|last=Cuozzo|first=Steve|title=3 WTC gets a boost: Leasing spurt improves Silverstein's chances|url=https://nypost.com/2014/06/23/3-wtc-gets-a-boost-leasing-spurt-improves-silversteins-chances/|access-date=July 20, 2017|work=New York Post|date=June 23, 2014}}

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{{Trump businesses}}

{{Upper East Side|state=collapsed}}

Category:Donald Trump

Category:Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan

Category:Residential buildings completed in 1984

Category:Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan