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TR U M P STR A TEGI ES FO R R E A L ESTA TE

to help you or to see things your way. The key personal qualities you
need are enthusiasm, relationship-building skills, showmanship,
preparation, and tenacity. Donald Trump has these qualities in
spades as he demonstrated on his first big real estate deal, the trans-
formation of the dilapidated Commodore Hotel on 42nd Street in
New York City into the magnificent Grand Hyatt. Remarkably,
Trump used very little of his own money in this transaction, yet later
sold his half interest to Hyatt for $85 million.
This chapter will describe how these five key personal qualities
helped Trump make the Commodore-Hyatt deal work, and how
small investors can use these same qualities in their own real estate
investments to negotiate better deals, sell properties for more money,
and dramatically improve real estate profits.

INVESTING CASE STUDY

TRUMP’S COMMODORE-HYATT PROJECT

This real estate investment was a monster as far as complexity was
concerned. It was 1974, New York City was struggling to survive,
and Trump decided that this was a great time to buy a huge, dilapi-
dated, nearly empty building on 42nd Street next to Grand Central
Station. Like many of the best real estate investors, he looks at prob-
lem properties and sees opportunities. Trump’s plan was to convert
this old building, the Commodore Hotel, into a 1,400-room first-
class convention hotel—the largest since the New York Hilton was
built 25 years earlier.
When 27-year-old Donald Trump explained his grandiose idea to
me during our first meeting, I told him that based on existing condi-
tions he was chasing an impossible dream that would never happen.
I thought the idea was brilliant, but it was totally unrealistic given the

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