Donald Trump's event in Tampa on Wednesday is being held at the Florida State Fairgrounds, a couple of miles northeast of the city itself. It is not being held at Trump Tower Tampa, a waterfront development that was announced in 2005 in partnership with local developers SimDag-Robel. It's not being held at Trump Tower Tampa for the simple reason that Trump Tower Tampa doesn't exist, having been abandoned shortly before the housing market crashed, handing big losses to investors in the project (including prospective buyers of the condominium units) but none to Trump, whose only role in the project was to be paid for the use of his name.
The development site in 2008 in a photo given to The Washington Post by a reader who provided it on the condition that they remain anonymous.
The Tampa Bay Times told the full story of the development project last July. A group of developers in Tampa bought land for development in the city and thought that partnering with Trump, who was then in full "Apprentice" mode, would add cachet to the project. They traveled to New York, and Trump agreed.
The deal was announced in January 2005. A news release from the announcement included an image of the final product, described Trump Tower Tampa as being developed by the New York business executive "in partnership" with SimDag-Robel and that it would be Trump's first project in the city. Tampa's mayor at the time, Pam Iorio, offered a generous quote: "I appreciate Mr. Trump's investment in Tampa. This is an exciting residential project along our Riverwalk and will add greatly to building a vibrant downtown neighborhood."
But Trump wasn't investing. The Tampa Bay Times's report describes what Trump offered: His name.
“On Oct. 27, 2004, SimDag/Robel and Trump signed a licensing agreement. In unusually effusive language for a legal document, it called him a ‘worldwide renowned builder and developer of real estate who enjoys the highest reputation in these fields among others.’
“In return for the right to use his name, SimDag agreed to pay Trump $2 million plus a percentage of condo sales.”
As the news release makes clear, that wasn't how the deal was presented to the community. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Trump told journalists that he had a "substantial stake" in the project. The condominiums in the building sold out quickly, with half of the deposits buyers put up being held in escrow and the other half being used for construction.
Then the deal hit two roadblocks, as the Tampa Bay Times reported. First, the cost of building spiked when it was discovered that the underlying limestone varied from what was expected, necessitating a major (and expensive redesign). Second, the housing market cooled off, making financing tricky.
Trump was supposed to get regular payments for the use of his name, but eventually SimDag ran out of money and stopped paying. Two years after the deal was announced, Trump sued.
This was hardly new for Trump. USA Today reported that Trump has been involved in some 3,500 lawsuits over the course of his career. In 1,900 of those, he was the plaintiff. In 300 of them, the dispute centered on real estate; 25 dealt with branding and licensing.
But the lawsuit was the first time that most people realized that Trump wasn't involved in the project in any meaningful way, the Tampa Bay Times reported. A clause in the original agreement between Trump and SimDag dictated that the agreement's very existence be kept secret. People who put deposits on the nonexistent homes got the money back that had been placed in escrow — but the other half, spent on building costs, was lost.
Some investors sued — and some others talked to the Tampa Bay Times about their experience.
“Other buyers who did not join the suit have never received anything but their escrowed amount. When Trump boasted how rich he is — he pegs his wealth at $10 billion — in announcing his run for president, some wondered whether he could have done more to help them.
“ ‘I don't know if he could have created a situation where us owners got our money back, whether he had the power to do that,’ says [Jay] McLaughlin.”
McLaughlin told the Tampa Bay Times that "the main reason we went into this was Trump. We had no idea he was just putting his name on it and not backing it financially." The lawsuits from the investors were settled. "Some buyers got as little as $11,115, records show," the newspaper reported.
If he had wanted to, actually, Trump could have held his event at the site. According to Google Street View, it was still an empty lot as of May. Plenty of room for risers and a lectern. Maybe some seats, though Trump would probably want to add former investors, such as McLaughlin, to his attendance blacklist.