It seems there were problems with Toronto’s Trump Tower from the get go. Fraudsters were outed, major investors pulled out at the last minute, and those left as part of this major project in Canada were put together by the person outed. What’s worse, none of those involved had any experience in the development process of a condo tower. Such a scenario could lead to possible class action litigation if something were to go wrong, and it did – bankruptcy.
In a 10-year span in Toronto, more than 400 condo towers with 14 storeys or more have been built with success. Only one went belly up after being built – the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto, which remains about three-quarters empty. Every investor lost money except Donald Trump himself, who made millions. Ritz-Carlton, which pulled out of the deal, left investors with many unpaid debts. The main backer become a Toronto billionaire.
During construction, revenue was in short supply, and the project was rife with problems, including weather delays and design changes that cut more than 10 storeys off the building. Even once construction was complete, buy-ins were few. When the hotel opened, not very many rooms were booked, and condo buyers were slapped with thousands of dollars in extra fees.
Many owners of the units sued for project misrepresentation. A class action suit is pending in Supreme Court on behalf of other buyers. All those except Trump were losing money in the project. The building no longer bears Trump’s name.
Investing in a business deal always has its risks, yet there are times when it might be wise for those who have lost sizable amount of money to speak with a lawyer. Launching a class action litigation suit may be in order in such circumstances. A lawyer in Canada would be able to offer guidance to those clients who find themselves a victim of a business deal gone wrong.
Source: thestar.com, “How every investor lost money on Trump Tower Toronto (but Donald Trump made millions anyway)“, Robert Cribb and Marco Chown Oved, Oct. 21, 2017
