The Trump Organization will end its contract early with the Trump SoHo luxury condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan.
According to the New York Times, though the Trump Organization still has years remaining on the contract the building’s owner — California-based investment firm CIM Group — it will be able to walk away from Trump SoHo at the end of the month.
As part of the buyout, CIM will pay the Trumps an undisclosed amount of money. As part of the buyout, CIM can rebrand the property or buy more condo and expand the hotel before selling it.
The Trumps do not own the hotel — which is located in an upscale neighborhood in Manhattan known for being extremely liberal — but instead manage the day-to-day operations. It was opened just recently, in 2010.
The Trump SoHo has been struggling recently to both attract guests to the five-star priced hotel and to sell condominiums. The building’s main restaurant closed in April, and a lawyer for the restaurant said it was due to a drop in business “since the election.”
And in May, WYNC reported layoffs after the hotel’s conference and events business went from booking 29 events for big corporations in between January and May 2016, to 11 events for lesser-known corporations in 2017.
This is the second time a hotel development has lost the Trump name after a June announcement in Toronto.
President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, run the Trump Organization in a blind trust. The organization will still continue to operate the Trump Tower in Manhattan.
