Page 65 - Midas Touch

of my deal with Tiffany’s. Hoving agreed. However, Kandell said that
since the option belonged to Tiffany’s, it would not be transferable. He
could have been right.

I realized I could possibly sue over this question, and there was a
possibility of litigation that I explained to Kandell. Because neither of us

wanted that, we managed a deal that worked for both of us. Kandell agreed
to extend my lease from 20 years to 100 years. That gave me enough time
to make it financeable and eliminate any against rezoning. Both Hoving
and Kandell were gentlemen, and I was fortunate to have dealt with them.

It actually took only half an hour to make the deal with Kandell. That part
went smoothly. But you have to realize that it initially took three years to
get a response to my letters of inquiry. During that time, I was building

Trump Tower in my mind. I never once lost my focus on what I wanted to
do. My plans were precise as well as vivid.

As I continued on my quest to put all the pieces together that were
necessary to build Trump Tower, I was often reminded of Robert Moses, a
famous figure in the history of New York City, and his comment: “You
can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.” I knew I had a few more
eggs to contend with.

Trump Tower Saga: Part II
The property itself where I wanted to build Trump Tower was owned by
Genesco. Bonwit Teller, the famous department store, was on it. It’s
fortunate for me that I’m a good negotiator because I needed a lot of

experience in that department to get this deal done. Genesco and I kept our
deal a secret for some time and had expected to sign contracts within a
matter of months. That’s when the news got out. Genesco was suddenly the
attention of a great many interested buyers, including oil-rich, moneyed
Arab investors. Equally suddenly, Genesco was trying to get out of the
deal.

Remember all those letters I’d written for three years? They were going to
a man at Genesco named Jack Hanigan, and fortunately I had received a
one-page letter of intent from him. I let Genesco know that if they didn’t
honor our deal, I could and would litigate and could effectively hold up
their sale of the Bonwit property. At this point, I wasn’t sure the letter