Page 43 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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T R UM P: N E V E R G I V E U P

a comb-over as an advertisement for the new building. One
thing for certain is that all of New York and all New Yorkers
knew I was building a new building. Someone once said I was a
great promoter, but sometimes I don’t have to do a thing to get
attention.
The hits kept coming, and it felt like being in the eye of the
hurricane, but it made us solid and stronger in our mission. At
one point, someone got hold of some of our early drafts of mar-
keting materials mentioning that the units would be a great resi-
dential opportunity—which created a political and activist
firestorm. However, we stayed focused on what we wanted: to
get approval. We knew we couldn’t change the zoning nor could
we build under the existing zoning if the building was character-
ized as residential. So we were very focused on proving to the
City that the building was not residential and that we could pro-
ceed within the existing zoning laws.
We showed the City that we had specific constraints
regarding occupancy that were very clear. My team ended up
negotiating with the City for months over a six-page “Restric-
tive Declaration,” which included many hour-long sessions
where the City officials would analyze and critique every
comma in that document (literally). We were airtight and
transparent in what was being offered. Our condo plan pub-
lished everything in black and white. Nothing was hidden. As a
result, we finally got approval—our proposed building was
absolutely within the zoning laws of SoHo, and no one could
argue otherwise. My father had always said, “Know everything
you can about what you’re doing,” and that’s the advice I fol-
lowed. Every adversity served as fuel in what had become a
fight of city-sized proportions.
As of today, the Trump SoHo project is going along beauti-
fully. Both Don Jr. and Ivanka are working on it with me and
my partners, as did Sean Yazbeck, The Apprentice season five
winner, and Julius Schwarz of Bayrock.

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