Trump’s name trumped by White Plains condo owners

It was a big deal when Donald Trump and some of his minions from the TV show “The Apprentice” came to White Plains to celebrate the grand opening of Trump Tower at City Center, the 35-story luxury building with 212 condominium units that opened on Sept. 21, 2005.

Even the potholes in Martine Avenue on which the building fronts were paved with fresh asphalt so the street would look pristine for the occasion. Many of Westchester”™s top business and political movers and shakers were on hand for the opening party to bathe in the glow emitted by Trump”™s celebrity, even though his germophobia was showing and he went out of his way to avoid shaking hands with as many well-wishers as possible.

Developer Louis Cappelli, who built Trump Tower as part of his City Center retail and residential project on the site of a former Macy”™s store, had worked out a deal to license Trump”™s name for the building.

The Trump Organization also was brought on board for marketing and building management services. Success was not only written all over the project but was a practical reality as well.

Fast forward to 2021, after “The Apprentice” had long faded from view, Trump had finished four years in the White House and support for Trump was paramount during an insurrection at the Capitol intended to block Congress from doing its job to formalize Joe Biden”™s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Times changed and changing times were felt within Trump Tower at City Center.

A majority of the condominium owners came to believe that the time had come to remove the Trump identity from the building, just as it has been removed from some other properties that licensed the Trump name, including the 34-story condominium building Trump Parc Stamford in Connecticut.

Anthony Schembri, president of the Board of Managers of Trump Tower at City Center, told the Business Journal, “It wasn”™t uncommon for the brand name to be brought into discussions at board meetings, but it wasn”™t until January (after the assault on the Capitol) that the board decided to put out a survey to really take the temperature of the unit owners and just get a consensus of the direction that the unit owners wanted.”

Schembri said the outcome was that the overwhelming majority, about 68%, wanted a name change from Trump.

He said a special meeting of the owners was called so that formal votes could be taken regarding changing the building”™s branding as well as making official changes to legal documents.

The Trump Organization, as the building”™s management agent, was handling the day-to-day financial management of the building.

“They sent out our payments, they received our maintenance fees, they managed our general ledger, they handled our operating and reserve accounts,” Schembri said.

He said that at the same time the rebranding was being considered, a request for proposals was issued for a management agent. He said that the Trump Organization was among those responding but it soon removed its name from consideration when it became apparent that the building”™s branding was going to be changed.

“We are not the first Trump building that was considering a rebranding and a name change so this was not a new concept for The Trump Organization, and we”™ve worked with them for over 15 years and have always had a good relationship,” Schembri said.

“Representatives of The Trump Organization attended our board meetings and they were hearing some of the concerns and listening. They assured us there would be a seamless transition. This was done gracefully and they worked very closely with our new managing agent and this was a very amicable transition.”

Schembri said that a committee has been established to find a new name for the building and they also may bring in a marketing firm for assistance with the rebranding.

“We”™re moving swiftly because the building needs an identity and we want to do all that we need to in order to expedite that where we can,” Schembri said. “The building isn”™t going anywhere and the building will maintain the same level of glitz and glamour and opulence that existed when the building first opened.”

Alan Neiditch, formerly president of the building”™s board, owns condos in the City Center building and was an active real estate investor and broker in Westchester, told the Business Journal that some people who bought units in the building did so at least in part because of the Trump name.

“It was that luster of quality and luxury; many people wanted that and were very happy with it,” Neiditch said.

“As his presidency continued people became more unhappy. We heard anecdotal stories from individuals and brokers and sellers that buyers wouldn”™t come to the building … but there weren”™t really any hard and fast statistics that proved that the name was hurting the values in the building. It was a terrific property. It was managed very well and the building has a good staff with good amenities and was going very well.

“But, I think, after the insurrection on January 6 it became an overwhelming groundswell of support to reevaluate the name. The name now symbolized divisiveness, politics.”

It is expected that the transition to a new name for the City Center residential condominium building will take several months.