Trump Caught Advertising His ‘Condo-Hotel’ to Prospective Buyers as a “Primary Residence” or “Secondary Residence;”
Trump Lies and Violates Zoning: GVSHP became aware today that the website for Donald Trump’s planned 45-story condo-hotel at Spring and Varick Streets has been soliciting prospective buyers by asking if they plan to use their condo unit as a “primary residence,” a “secondary residence,” or an ‘investment property.” Problem is, residences are explicitly prohibited under the zoning for this site, and as GVSHP and countless opponents of this project have stated to the City, this condo-hotel would violate the zoning and therefore should not be permitted. GVSHP sent a letter to the City today regarding this “smoking gun” showing Trump’s true intentions with this development, and again calling upon the City NOT to allow this project to move forward (CLICK HERE for letter). GVSHP first became aware of this webpage through Borough President Stringer, Congressman Nadler, State Senator Duane, and Assemblymember Glick, who also wrote to the city, and the developer, expressing their concerns and objections (CLICK HERE); we thank them for their vigilance.
Trump’s web advertisement clearly shows what we and so many others have been contending all along – that a condo-hotel inherently violates the zoning for this district. This neighborhood’s manufacturing zoning, like the zoning for many areas of New York, prohibits development of “residences” and “residential hotels,” though it does allow “transient hotels.” Transient hotels are defined as, and are generally understood to be, hotels where units are “rented on a daily basis” and used “primarily for transient occupancy.”
The City has been negotiating a “restrictive declaration” with Trump in order to “ensure” that his condo-hotel would conform to these zoning restrictions. But the agreement the City has been discussing with Trump would allow owners to live in their units for as much as 100-150 days per year, which we have always contended was a ‘secondary residence,’ not a transient hotel. Trump’s webpage would seem to indicate that he thinks so too.
For more information on Trump’s “smoking gun” webpage, read NY Magazine and curbed.com. Also read the December 7th article in the New York Sun.
Next: 12/13/06
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