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H OLDING S TRA TEGIES AND E XIT S TRA TEGIES

With a view toward solving his problem, Kandell asked me if I
thought it would be okay if he asked Donald Trump to be his watch-
dog on this particular piece of property. Now it is very unusual to
ask someone to be a guardian of a real estate interest and I had never
seen it employed where the person to be the protector was not a
family member but merely a business acquaintance. The determin-
ing factor in Kandell’s mind was his concern that Coleman would
be too tough for his children and grandchildren to handle when
they inherited the property, and he didn’t savor the idea that
they would eventually have to deal with such a difficult man. In-
stead, he reasoned, “I’m going to use Donald Trump as a protective
shield and let Coleman deal with Donald Trump. Trump will know
how to handle someone like Coleman.” Kandell had the confidence
that Donald Trump would protect the valuable asset for him and
his family.
Kandell gave Trump an overriding lease which locked in behind
the Coleman lease and had a longer term. If the Coleman lease was
terminated or expired, Trump’s lease became effective. Now Cole-
man would have to deal with Trump when it came to any issue under
his lease. Over the first four years, Trump got nothing for riding
herd on Coleman but his being in the picture intimidated Coleman
who sold his lease to another hotel operator. The land eventually
came up for reappraisal to determine a new and higher rent. Pursuant
to Trump’s overriding lease he was obligated to negotiate the reap-
praisal and would be entitled to retain 15 percent of any increase in
rent. When the time for reappraisal occurred I, as Trump’s represen-
tative, dealt with Coleman’s successor. I negotiated the new rent and
was able to get a hefty increase, which continued until 2004 when as
a result of changed circumstances, the lease was renegotiated.
Leonard S. Kandell died in 1991 at the age of 85. His ground
lease has since passed through three hotel operators, and each time I
was involved as the overseer on behalf of Trump. I supervised the

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