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T HINK B IG

ful if it benefited Kandell. Trump’s representatives said that they felt
the Kandell site had a value of $2.5 million and they were willing to
pay a rent starting at $250,000 a year. I told them I couldn’t agree
with the value they placed on the site because there was one “0” miss-
ing. $25 million was the right number. They were shocked by my an-
swer and went back to report to Trump their lack of success. They
complained, “You told us we could make a fair deal with George Ross
but what he wants is outrageous.” When they told Trump the offer
they had made, he said, “What did you expect? You tried to low ball
him and he did you one better. I’ll handle it myself.”
Donald called me and arranged a meeting. At that meeting he told
me about the Nike deal and asked me what I could do to help him do
it. Once again I was impressed with the creative problem-solving ge-
nius of Trump in envisioning this complex plan. I told him if the in-
creased rental was adequate I could get Kandell to agree to a revised
lease that would enable the Nike deal to be made, but obtaining a revi-
sion of the IBM lease was his problem and Ed Minskoff who repre-
sented IBM would be very difficult to convince. I was right. Minskoff
raised obstacles that were difficult or impossible to overcome, such as
asking for control of the Kandell site. As each problem arose Trump
would call me and ask my advice. I said to him, “Donald, what you
need is to get Minskoff to agree to a co-ownership agreement which
sets forth the rights of Kandell and IBM when the Nike lease expires.”
Donald said, “I’ve never seen a co-ownership agreement.” I replied,
“Neither did I until I needed one years ago and couldn’t find anyone
who did one. I spent a full month drafting one which touches all the
bases.” I told him I would send it to him and if Minskoff wanted to
modify it, he could call me. Minskoff liked the co-ownership idea and
told Trump if they could agree to a revision and extension of Trump’s
lease with IBM he had a deal. Trump and Minskoff agreed to terms
and the Nike building became a very profitable reality. As is so often
typical in real estate investing, this deal would have failed at many
points without continuous creative problem solving.
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