[blazertke]

Trump Tower in the News Again

project is technically on hold but i still doubt it will ever get built.

photo from www.tampa4u.com

Originally Posted by Shannon Behnken

By SHANNON BEHNKEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 4, 2008

TAMPA - SimDag chief executive Frank Dagostino said Thursday that the company is "days away" from obtaining financing to build the stalled 52-story Trump Tower Tampa. Meanwhile, lawsuits between the developer and the source of the tower's name are moving forward in court.

SimDag, which has tried for three years to get financing for the tower, filed a legal answer to Donald Trump's lawsuit and fought back with its own countersuit, according to documents filed in federal court in Tampa on Wednesday evening.

In its lawsuit, SimDag says Trump breached his contract with the developer by acknowledging to the public that he licensed his name to SimDag and was not involved in building the tower himself.

Dagostino said the countersuit was a necessary legal step but that both sides are willing to drop their respective lawsuits when and if the financing deal goes through.

Trump "agreed to drop the lawsuit at the closing table," Dagostino said. "Then we're friends again."

Trump's attorney in the case, Chris Griffin of Foley & Lardner in Tampa, said he couldn't comment on either lawsuit. Rhona Graff, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said she couldn't comment on the case either.

SimDag told buyers in October that it was close to getting financing from a New York hedge fund but that the fund would not move forward unless Trump dropped his lawsuit against the company. Another stipulation was that SimDag get buyers to sign new two-year contracts.

Dagostino said Thursday that he had $70 million in new contracts and hoped to have about $80 million in contracts before closing on the loan. The company originally had $137 million in signed purchase contracts, he said.

"Buyers have responded wonderfully," Dagostino said. "The tower will happen. And it's got to be Trump Tower. It can't be Frank Tower."

Trump filed suit in May, saying SimDag breached its contract by not starting construction on time and by failing to make monthly payments to Trump, as stated in the $2.8 million licensing agreement. The agreement also stipulated that Trump would get a 50 percent cut of profits from the sale of luxury condominium units planned for the project.

Attorneys for SimDag and Trump have jointly asked for - and received - two extensions for the filing of SimDag's legal answer. In November, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore said he would not approve another extension.

If the two parties did not reach an agreement by Jan. 2, the judge said, he expected them to move forward with the lawsuit.

That gave SimDag no choice but to defend itself in court, Dagostino said, stressing that Trump said he won't drop his lawsuit until the financing for the tower is in place.

Trump Tower Tampa was announced in January 2005. It is planned for riverfront property along Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa.

Trump filed his own legal documents Wednesday, seeking to drop two of SimDag's original partners from his lawsuit.