Trumps to Ditch Their 'Epically Mismanaged' NYC Hotel

The Trump SoHo has had troubles from the start
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2017 3:01 PM CST
Updated Nov 23, 2017 5:00 PM CST
Trumps to Get Out of Luxury NYC Hotel Bearing Their Name
The Trump SoHo hotel is seen in New York on Dec. 6, 2016.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A posh New York City hotel bears the Trump name—but the Trumps have apparently had it with the property, the New York Times reports. The Trump Organization has penned a deal that lets it out of its ties to Trump SoHo by the end of the year, bringing to an end more than a decade of local pushback, lackluster interest in its pricey per-night rooms and condos, and even allegations of possible fraud at the hands of the Trump family. The Trumps managed the hotel that bore their name, though it's actually owned by California investment company CIM Group. By CIM buying out the Trumps, the firm will be free to boost the current footprint of the hotel, first announced in 2006 on Trump's show The Apprentice, by scooping up more condos, then trying to sell it; it can also try to rebrand the property entirely.

Fortune notes that even though the hotel has been "dogged from the start by controversy," things seemed to get even stickier once Trump became president, with celebrities like LeBron James publicly noting they won't stay there, and its Koi restaurant shutting down earlier this year because regulars stopped going. But even though the Trumps may be looking forward to ditching what Timothy O'Brien of Bloomberg says has been "an epically misbegotten and mismanaged project," he also notes the hotel has apparently already caught the eye of special counsel Robert Mueller, who may be looking into Trump SoHo's possible role in any "suspicious financial activity" linked to "Russian operatives." "Like visitors to the Hotel California (cue The Eagles)—the Trumps can check out of the Trump SoHo any time they like, but they can never leave," writes Timothy O'Brien. (More Donald Trump stories.)

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