A proposed $1.5 billion Trump Tower on the Gold Coast has been abandoned, with the Australian developer and the Trump Organization trading blame over who torpedoed the deal.
Altus Property Group’s David Young announced the split this week, claiming the Trump brand had become “toxic to Australians” following the US war in Iran.
The Trump Organization hit back, accusing Altus of delivering “empty promise, after empty promise” and failing to meet “the most basic financial obligation” required to execute the agreement, according to The Guardian.
The collapse comes barely three months after Mr Young and Eric Trump posed for handshake photos at Mar-a-Lago on Valentine’s Day, announcing what they claimed would be Australia’s tallest building – a shimmering tower emblazoned with the Trump name rising above Surfers Paradise.
“I am so proud to announce what will soon be the tallest building in Australia – Trump International Hotel & Tower Gold Coast,” Eric Trump wrote at the time.
Mr Young took to LinkedIn this week to clarify that it was the developer – not Trump – walking away from the deal.
“DEVELOPER ABANDONS PLAN FOR A TRUMP BRAND TOWER,” he wrote in all caps, correcting media coverage.
He described the toxicity around the Trump brand as “grossly unfair” on a business that had “nothing to do with the President”, calling the association “pure sensationalism”.
“There is no acrimony between the Trump family and myself, why would there be after knowing them for 19 years when no one here then even knew who Donald Trump was,” Young wrote.
“It is pure business.”
The Trump Organization’s statement suggested otherwise.
“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,” the company said.
Mr Young denied the collapse was due to missed obligations, saying his team “knew it was time to part company” given the Iran war and associated pressures.
Both parties claim they’re pressing ahead with separate tower plans in Australia.