MANILA, Philippines – Build it, put the Trump name on it, and the buyers will come.
International real estate tycoon Donald Trump has collaborated with Century Properties for the first Trump Tower in the Philippines. Century Properties’ subsidiary Century City Development Corp. is licensing the Trump brand to build and sell the P6-billion ($150-million) Trump-branded residential tower in Makati called Trump Tower Manila.
In an e-mailed question and answer with The STAR, Trump – who owns some of the most expensive pieces of real estate in New York, including Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Trump Building on Wall Street, and Trump World Tower at the UN Plaza, each valued at over $250 million – said, “In discussing this opportunity with (daughter) Ivanka, we felt that Manila would be a strong market for the Trump brand. It is one of Asia’s most important cities and Manila’s sophisticated clientele really appreciates luxury. We were familiar with Century Properties and we found that their accomplishments in Manila were significant and we are confident that they would be a terrific group to develop an outstanding luxury residential building and brand it with our name.”
Trump Tower Manila will be part of Century City, a 3.4-hectare development on Kalayaan Avenue, Makati.
Century Properties managing director and Trump Tower Manila project head Robbie Antonio said, “Trump Tower Manila marks a new era in Philippine development. The standards of a Trump project are unparalleled and we expect to deliver this high level of quality in Trump Tower Manila. There is a stark difference between luxury and ultra-luxury – this project falls in the latter category. Once built, we hope that this will also be the most prominent residential condominium in the history of Philippine real estate. This is a five-star NY property. Every inch of the tower will look and feel like a world-class development. Manila has not seen anything like this in a long time or ever.”
Trump is positive about the region’s real estate industry, saying, “I think Asia is booming and I recognize that there is great wealth throughout the region. In the Philippines, the real estate industry is advancing tremendously and reshaping itself; people are buying real estate; they’re investing in homes for themselves and their families. Buyers in Manila are becoming wiser by the minute and I believe that they will buy into a top-tier product.”
The licensing deal was executed by the children of the two real estate magnates – Robbie Antonio is son of Century Properties chairman Jose E.B. Antonio, and Ivanka Trump is the daughter of Trump and vice president for development and acquisitions at The Trump Organization.
The Trump heiress became famous as one of the judges on her father’s popular reality show, The Apprentice, dubbed as “the ultimate job interview,” which picked and awarded one of 16 contestants to run one of Trump’s companies under a one-year $250,000 contract.
Trump executive vice president for development and acquisitions Eric Trump was also at the recent signing of the licensing deal in New York.
“I met Ivanka Trump in New York several years ago,” said the young Antonio. “A friendship developed with her and the rest of her family. In our meetings, we discussed a licensing deal, and consequently, Trump Tower Manila was conceived.”
Donald Trump said on working with his children in his organization, “My children and I are a team. We are dynamic and agile, and we work together to keep expanding the Trump brand in many different directions both domestically and internationally.”
The Trump Organization has over 70 properties, owned or branded, built or under construction worldwide, ranging from residential condominiums to hotels; golf courses to mixed use properties. Each property in this portfolio is situated at the top of the market from a luxury perspective regardless of asset class.
“We are excited to have Trump Tower Manila join this exclusive portfolio – it will be something that Manila has never seen before, and will set a new residential standard not only in the Philippines, but throughout Asia,” Trump told The STAR.
For its part, Century Properties’ portfolio includes 63 vertical buildings under management and development with over 3.9 million square meters, and more than 10,000 residential, office and commercial units.
Its Century City also carries the internationally branded Milano Residences, whose amenities and public spaces are being designed by Versace Home, and Centuria Medical Makati with Fortune 500 company General Electric.
This year marks Trump’s four decades in real estate. In 1971, he began heading his father’s real estate company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, and renamed it The Trump Organization. He has also written 15 books on business, economics and finance, and popularized the catchphrase “You’re fired!” on his reality show The Apprentice.
In 2010, Trump made headlines when he announced the possibility of running for president of the United States in 2012. On May 16 this year he said he would not run for president but a week later, on May 23, declared he hasn’t ruled out running for president.
Though the Trump fortune has undergone upheavals during the recession in the 1990s, Trump today values his brand at $3 billion.
Trump said that his secret to success, which he learned from his father Fred Trump and has passed on to his children, is simply, “Always love what you do. If you love what you do, you will be successful at it.”
Source: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2011/09/09/724974/trump-tower-rise-makati
