As Donald Trump faces $355 million in court-ordered penalties for conspiring to overstate his value, all eyes are on his most respected, if unsung, Latest York City asset — 1290 Sixth Avenue, an office constructing where he owns a 30% passive stake.
The tower at West 52nd Street is 70% owned by Vornado Realty Trust, which is headed by Trump’s longtime friend Steven Roth. Although Trump’s name appears nowhere on the constructing, his minority ownership could be his salvation.
All he needs to do is sell it.
“It will be ironic,” one major Manhattan landlord said, “if Donald escapes by means of a constructing that doesn’t have his name on it.”
Trump also owns 30% of Vornado’s 555 California St. in San Francisco, an office market in much worse shape than Latest York’s.
Judge Arthur Engoron put Trump in a deep pickle: He must put up the cash before he can appeal the ruling.
CBRE power-dealmaker Stephen B. Siegel, who brokered several Trump transactions including for the Gucci lease at Trump Tower, told The Post, “His a part of 1290 Sixth could be value $600 million before debt.” The tower was refinanced with a $950 million business mortgage-backed securities loan in November 2021.
Siegel valued the two.1 million square-foot tower — which is greater than 98% leased according to Vornado’s most up-to-date SEC 10-K filing — at about $900 per square foot. The most up-to-date large deal there was a 175,000 square-foot lease for law firm King & Spalding, as The Post first reported.
A Trump sellback to Vornado at 1290 Sixth would appear to make sense. Roth is alleged to be skittish about his publicly traded firm’s association with the previous (and possibly future) president.
In February 2021, shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol Constructing riots, Roth was exploring ways to oust Trump from the partnership, the Wall Street Journal reported on the time. Nonetheless, nothing got here of it and neither Vornado nor Trump confirmed any talks.
Trump could be loath to quit his share of 1290. His minority position reeled in $62 million in rent revenue in 2022, the Real Deal reported.
“A Trump bailout at 1290 is strictly within the realm of speculation,” a source cautioned. “Even when he and Roth want to pursue it, it will keep a whole lot of lawyers busy.”
That’s if the choice is up to him and not court-appointed monitor Barbara Jones, whose post-verdict role in any sale matter is unclear.
Trump’s other large, more visible asset is 40 Wall Street, the landmark, 72-story Trump Constructing where he owns the leasehold, not the land.
Siegel estimated the leasehold’s potential sale value at “between $250 million and $300 million — tops. It needs a whole lot of work.” Trump once considered selling it for $400-plus million and later valued it at $550 million — or twice what outside appraisers said, according to the lawsuit that resulted in Engoron’s harsh penalty.
Siegel noted that the Rudin company was asking a mere $200 million for 80 Pine Street, a similar-size tower nearby. “And it’s in a lot better condition than 40 Wall,” he said.
By any measure, 40 Wall is troubled. Although the Trump website describes it as a “Class-A” office property, brokers and analysts consider it Class-B. Fitch downgraded a portion of the tower’s debt to a junk level last yr before a $160 million mortgage went to special servicing, although it’s not classified as such. Although office vacancies are about 18% — not as high as in another FiDi buildings — older tenants have left and more exits are expected.
Worse, a 22,000 square-foot Duane Reade store closed in October with no alternative in sight. The retail loss is equivalent to the rent from 4 floors of office space.
“It’s a basket case,” one leasing specialist — not Siegel — said of 40 Wall.
“It’s a fantastic landmark on the surface, but it needs not less than $250 million in capital upgrades to be competitive on this market.”
After all, Trump’s other Manhattan assets could even be sold. But they’re not as large as many individuals imagine.
“The Trump Tower business portion is commonly mistaken for the entire constructing,” one broker identified. “But apart from Donald’s own triplex, the opposite apartments are individually-owned condo units.”
“And the remainder of his so-called ‘empire’ in the town consists of a number of apartments here and there, a few retail units and a garage or two.”
Vornado declined to comment on the 1290 Sixth Ave. situation. Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, didn’t respond to a request for comment.