Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
All this spending on a very attractive, lavish multilevel riverwalk....yet no retail tenants.
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The more you think about it, the more bizarre this is.
Trump must be doing it for image reasons - they're probably being very, very picky about the brands they let in.
If you think about it, consider what kind of hotel rates Trump Hotel could charge with say Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc. on the first floor, versus having a cellphone store, a Talbot's, an Abercrombie & Fitch, etc. Not to mention the cachet of the condos and the resulting real estate prices. Gotta believe there is some premium - even if it's only like a $10/night or $20/night difference (plus consider differences of like just $1 or $3 or $5 in drinks, room service, mini-bar, dry cleaning, etc.) it can add up quickly. I am pulling these numbers out of thin air but you get the idea.
Obviously other factors drive hotel rates and real estate prices, but Trump Hotel is a freestanding brand and not established in Chicago, so the guest/buyer needs some kind of nudge or idea of what level of quality they're paying for. Just speculating, but I bet Trump could seriously discount their first floor to some ultra-luxury retailers and they could "make back" the money with their hotel and services rates. At least for the first several years.