‘Empty promises’: $1.5b Trump Tower on Gold Coast axed – The Age
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Controversial plans for a $1.5 billion Trump tower on the Gold Coast have been scrapped, with the Trump Organisation blaming the Australian developer’s “defaults and failures” for the demise of the deal.
The 285-room luxury hotel proposed for Surfers Paradise would have been Australia’s tallest building, soaring 91 storeys above the glitter strip.
A spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation confirmed on Wednesday plans for the tower would not go ahead, less than three months after a deal was signed, due to its Australian partner – Altus Property Group – failing to meet its obligations.
“After months of negotiations and empty promise, after empty promise, on a supposed $1.5 billion project, Altus Property Group was unable to meet the most basic financial obligation due upon the execution of the agreement,” she said.
The spokeswoman rebuffed assertions from Altus chief executive and founder David Young that the Iran war and Trump’s toxic brand had made the project untenable.
“Mr Young’s attempt to blame certain world events for our termination of the agreement is merely a ploy to distract from his own defaults and failures,” she said.
“While we were very excited about the opportunity to bring a world-class development to the Gold Coast, the project was dependent on our licensing partner meeting certain obligations. Unfortunately, those obligations were not fulfilled.
“We look forward to exploring other potential projects and bringing a Trump property to Australia soon.”
Young, who travelled to Trump’s resort club Mar-a-Lago and was pictured shaking hands with Trump’s son Eric upon signing the hotel management deal, rejected claims the project’s collapse was about unmet obligations.
“Let’s just say that with the Iran war and everything else, the Trump brand was increasingly toxic in Australia,” Young said in a statement.
“Some time ago we knew it was time to part company.
“It was not about not meeting obligations. There are other luxury brand options for us. The project is live.”
Eric Trump spruiked the Australian development deal on social media site X in February, sharing renders of a gold-tinged tower featuring the Trump name and a private beach club below.
“I am so proud to announce what will soon be the tallest building in Australia,” he wrote at the time.
“This marks our first venture into Australia – an extraordinary country in every respect – and I couldn’t be more excited to help shape its iconic skyline forever.”
Months passed, but no development application was submitted for the site on the corner of Trickett Street and The Esplanade at Surfers Paradise.
It later emerged that Young’s business history included two bankruptcies in 1991 and 2010.
Meanwhile, a petition to stop the Trump tower garnered more than 142,000 signatures. Another petition calling for the development to be approved attracted about 3600 signatures.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, who previously enthusiastically welcomed the proposal and travelled to Mar-a-Lago in February, confirmed the council had not yet received a development application for the site.
“This project was an agreement between two private parties. No application had been submitted to council so we didn’t have a proposal to consider,” he said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The site was once home to the Iluka Resort, which was bulldozed in 2013 after concrete cancer destroyed the hotel’s structural integrity.
Macau casino boss Loi Keong Kuong purchased the site for $56.5 million in 2019, after previous owner Chinese company Forise Holdings failed in its attempt to build a 700-unit so-called Spirit tower.
Kuong advertised the parcel of prime Gold Coast land for sale in 2024, although no settlement has been reached.
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