Trump Hollywood Opens

HOLLYWOOD, FL - Trump Hollywood oozes opulence, from the sprawling pool deck to the cigar room to the Italian cabinetry and wine fridges in the 200 condominiums, all with dramatic ocean views. Of course, the lavish digs, unveiled Friday, come with a steep price: The condos range from $1.3 million to $7 million. Donald Trump and Jorge Perez, the high-profile development duo behind the $355 million project, say they have lined up roughly 140 buyers so far. Closings start next week.

"In the end, the cream rises to the top, and this building is that," said Donald Trump Jr., wearing a gray pinstripe suit as he stood in for his famous father during a press tour of the tower.

Still, as the housing slump and recession linger, at least one analyst has serious doubts about the hulking 40-story development on the beach in Hollywood.

Lewis Goodkin, a longtime housing consultant in Miami, said Trump and Perez may retain a "good number" of the signed contracts. But selling the rest of the units will be difficult because most buyers in this environment are searching for bargains, he said.

"The last thing in the world I'd want to be doing today is opening a condo development," Goodkin said. "This is not one of those things where people who are bigger than life will make a difference."

South Florida has one of the most overbuilt condo markets in the country.

During the housing boom of 2000 to 2005, prices soared as speculators flipped units. But not enough long-term owners bought condos, leaving investors and developers in financial trouble.

Both Trump and Perez, who teamed to build a luxury condo complex in Sunny Isles Beach last year, have been hammered by the housing crash. They agreed to open a luxury condo building in West Palm Beach in 2007, but the project later was shelved.

The long-delayed Trump International Hotel & Tower in Fort Lauderdale may not open. And a Trump condo-hotel project collapsed in Mexico, with investors losing their deposits.

Perez's Miami-based company, The Related Group, has built more than 58,000 units in Florida since 1979. But Related is reeling amid the slump, trying to buy more time from lenders to pay off debts.

The company said this summer it handed control of a West Palm Beach condo complex, CityPlace South Tower, to an investor group as part of a "friendly foreclosure." Only 39 of the 420 units had closed because of the housing downturn. Related still continues to manage the property and market the condos for sale.

Perez doesn't sugarcoat the challenges facing him, Trump and third partner Jean Francois Roy at Trump Hollywood.

While there are some all-cash buyers, others need financing, which is hard to come by as lenders tighten credit standards, particularly for condos.

Buyers will back out of deals, and sales will be challenging, Perez said.

"Some people are very, very afraid, asking for discounts that we will not give," he said.

The developers say many buyers are from Canada, Russia, South America and New York. They're middle-aged, eager to be near the glitz of South Beach "without being right in the middle of it," Perez said.

Few buyers are speculators looking to flip the units, the developers insist.

Perez said he is meeting a handful of the buyers personally over dinner, trying to assuage their concerns by telling them that the housing climate is improving. "We're seeing a bottoming out," he said. "I think that's going to help us."