Already renters in Trump Tower say they have been able to get sizable discounts.
Bearing the president’s name in massive letters, one of the most exclusive buildings downtown has taken on political overtones since Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. About 10.7 percent of the building’s 486 residential units are currently for sale — a far higher percentage than comparable downtown condo buildings.
“I’ve never seen such a glut” of condos for sale, said real estate agent Carla Walker of KoenigRubloff Berkshire Hathaway. “When people live where they’ve paid $1.5 million and up, they don’t want to see people hanging out and demonstrating. And there’s still a stigma there for some people.”
While it’s not clear just how many of the sales in the building are being driven by politics, it is evident that far more units are up for sale than in other large luxury buildings in the downtown area.
The number for sale “is amazing,” said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors. “I’ve never seen that number for sale since they opened, and there have been very few transactions.”
Only four units sold this year, and there was a decline in the number sold last year compared with the previous year, she said. There are about 52 residential units for sale now. With the addition of the hotel condos also on the market in the building, the number of units for sale jumps to about 70. Hotel condos are units that are privately owned but rented to paying hotel guests.
Based on the residential units alone, the number of available condos in Trump Tower is almost three times higher than other large condo buildings downtown, according to Lissner’s data. No comparison is perfect, because the very high-end Elysian and Waldorf buildings are small with little turnover in units. But Lissner said that while Trump Tower has 52 of its 486 units on the market, the John Hancock building has 26 out of 703 for sale; Water Tower Place has 9 out of 260 for sale; Aqua has 12 out of 262 for sale; 340 on the Park has 11 out of 343; 600 N. Lake Shore Drive has 20 out of 395; and The Heritage has 5 out of 358.
Next to the Trump Tower, Renelle on the River — a building still awaiting groundbreaking — has sold 17 of 51 units, according to developer Belgravia Group. The units start at $1.2 million.
In a troubling sign for people wishing to sell units in Trump Tower, units for sale in the building have been on the market for increasingly lengthy periods of time, Walker said. Those currently listed for sale have been sitting on the market for an average of 205 days, significantly longer than the 152 days during the previous six-month period that preceded the election, Walker said.
Whether the glut is related to controversy over Donald Trump is difficult to ascertain. While the average home for sale in Chicago has been on the market for less than three months, Walker notes that the luxury market has been slower to move.