The Trump Organization, now run by the US President’s sons, has signed a deal to build its first high-rise hotel in Australia.
The Altus Property Group, a local developer, said the A$1.5 billion ($1.06 billion) project would create the country’s tallest building, if it gets the go-ahead from the local council.
The 91-storey skyscraper has been proposed right on the beachfront at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, a popular seaside destination about 78km south of Brisbane in Queensland state.
ALSO SEE: Tariff Ruling Leaves Huge Cloud of Doubt Over US Trade Deals
The Trump Organization currently has eight to 10 hotels and resorts, mostly in the US, but its website says another dozen or so have been proposed recently.
That includes a golf course near Hanoi in northern Vietnam, which has received some negative publicity, as local farmers would allegedly be kicked off their land if it proceeds.
The design of the Australian hotel is said to be similar to the 47-storey Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, although much taller.
Altus said it will include a “six-star resort-hotel”, 270 apartments, shops, a beach club and a swimming pool, Altus Property Group said in a statement.
“Australia’s tallest building will be a Trump Tower, right in the middle of Surfers Paradise – it’s great for Queensland tourism, and fantastic for Australia,” the company said.
“It won’t have a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton brand above the front door, but it will say ‘Trump’. And that means it is a no-expense-spared, highest-possible-quality building – the best in the world.”
The Trump Hotels website said the project marked the first time the brand was being used for a hotel in Australia.
“Set to become Australia’s tallest tower, this landmark address redefines beachfront sophistication with world-class amenities, iconic design, and uninterrupted Gold Coast views,” it said.
Altus CEO David Young said he had been pursuing the development for nearly 20 years, cold-calling Ivanka Trump in 2007 to pitch a Trump resort as “Australia’s finest tourism property”.
Young said the final agreement was signed with the Trump Organization at the Mar-a-Lago resort on February 14. The company was now “deeply into a process of design, engineering, construction and fit-out”.
He said the building would be Australian-owned and Australian-built in line with the Trump company’s design requirements.
Prices for the tower’s apartments were likely to start at A$5 million, he said.
Trump not popular: Australian poll
However, whether the developers can find 270 buyers for apartments at that price, could be a challenge, given Trump is currently not very popular in the land they call Down Under.
A report in the reputable Sydney Morning Herald two days ago noted that a recent survey “found that Trump has a net favorability rating of minus 41, his worst result since he returned to the White House in January last year.”
And that is far worse than the rating given for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Xi has a favorability rating of minus 26,” the SMH report said, although not quite as bad as the rating for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was described as “Australians’ least favourite world leader.”
Some 17% of Australians said they regard the US as its biggest threat, despite the nations sharing a longstanding security alliance, second only to China, which nearly a third rated as the country’s biggest threat.
Meanwhile, a national climate risk assessment last September noted that Queensland will face greater exposure to increasingly powerful cyclones, particularly in the north, and that communities all along the coast face growing risks of rising sea levels.
ALSO SEE:
Indonesia Signs $33-Billion Trade Accord With Washington
Japan Agrees to First $36-Billion Tranche of Investments in US
AI Regulation ‘Urgently’ Needed, Altman Admits at India Summit
Potential Peak in China Carbon Emissions Sparks Hope and Worry
Focus on Economic Growth is Killing Nature, UN Agency Warns
India Stocks, Rupee Soar on US Trade Deal Despite Few Details
Trump Hails ‘Long-Term Deal’ on Greenland, But EU Pact in Limbo
Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.