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OU’VE HEARD THE cliche about the three most important things
Yin real estate being “location, location, location.” Trump thinks
this is misleading. Location is important, but having a great location
doesn’tguarantee anything. It’s a starting point for what could be a
great investment. However, an inept real estate investor could own
property at a great location and lose a fortune. One of the corner-
stones of Trump’s philosophy is “Improve any Location.” In other
words, use creativityandvisionto change the way your location is
utilized. Trump never gets involved with something that’s just ordi-
nary—it has to be very special. If he’s building an apartment building,
it has to be the most luxurious, and the biggest and best in the area.
Small investors can adapt this principle by doing something radical to
their property, changing the zoning, changing the way the property
is used, or renovating it sostrikingly that people think about the lo-
cation in a new way. That’s what he decidedtodowhenheconceived
theideafor TrumpWorld Toweratthe United Nations Plaza.

DEAL CASE STUDY

TRUMP WORLD TOWER AT THE UNITED NATIONS

When Donald first discovered this property in 1997 it contained a
sprawling two-story building situated across the street from the
United Nations in New York City. The building was the headquarters
of an engineering society whose officers decided to sell the building
because the value of land for new construction had skyrocketed, and

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