The Northern New Jersey Mastermind Group kicked off 2020 with a look at a controversial story on the Trump organization’s imprint on NYC real estate. Guest speaker Kevin Riordan – a finance and real estate expert and professor at Montclair State, Rutgers and Caldwell Universities – raised the lid on one of the Trump buildings in his presentation, “Mismatched Numbers — Trump’s Lender Documents vs. Tax Documents.”
Based on recent research and reporting by ProPublica, an independent non-profit news organization, Riordan took a deep dive on the checkered past and current financial controversies of NYC’s historic landmark building at 40 Wall Street, a.k.a. the Trump Tower.
• A brief look at the building site’s storied past from first owner Aaron Burr to Donald Trump – including a near 1939 bankruptcy, a 1946 plane crash, past financial scandals, Trump-era renewal, and current operations;
• An examination of confidential and controversial Trump records – TC 201 tax documents, number of leases vs. rentals, P&L, expenses, occupancy rates, etc. uncovered and reported by ProPublica
• The property’s current status as a B-grade office building and future opportunities