Thread by @Fahrenthold

Thanks to everyone who responded w/ideas about this odd line on @realdonaldtrump’s personal financial disclosures (Trump claimed “management fees” from a Ritz hotel that hasn’t existed in 20 yrs).

B/C of you, I’ve now got a little more of the story -- but not all of it, yet. 1/

https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1037694009391677440

112 Central Park South *was* a Ritz hotel until '97. But Ritz didn't own the land: it had a "ground lease" from developer Leonard Kandell.
In 1990, Kandell gave @realdonaldtrump an interest in the lease.
Here’s Trump’s longtime lawyer, George Ross, explaining why. 2/

That quote is from Ross's book, "Trump-Style Negotiation."
Sequel to his "Trump Strategies for Real Estate."
Ross's literary genre can be best described as "Books that start with the word 'Trump.'" 3/
amazon.com/Trump-Style-Ne…

In 1997, the Ritz moved out of the bldg, and another hotel moved in.
In '04, the bldg was turned into co-op apartments (at some point, the address was also changed, to 110 Central Park South). 4/
nytimes.com/2004/05/14/nyr…

At the same time, city docs show that @realDonaldTrump sold some (or perhaps all) of his interest in the lease, for $4.5M. 5/

6/

So now I can explain why @realdonaldtrump *had* an income from the building – from his share in the ground lease.
But I can't explain (at least at the moment) why he has income from it today, if he sold his interests in 2004. 7/

Also, I still can't find any mention of this company Trump lists in his disclosures-- "DT Venture II LLC" -- in NYC real estate records, related to this property or any other. 8/

*Whoever* is paying @realdonaldtrump related to this bldg -- the "Ritz Carlton at 112 Central park South," which now isn't a Ritz and isn't there -- they seem to be paying him less.
His income was about $15K per month in past yrs, but only about $6K per month in 2017. 9/

If you know more -- or if you know where else I could look -- lemme know. I'm at [e-mail], or uh, here.

/The End. Back to whatever you were doing...

Update, for those interested...The kind folks in Delaware just sent me the paperwork that @realDonaldTrump's company used to establish "DT Venture II." The date is January 2016, obv. long after Trump seemed to have sold his stake in the property.

UPDATE: I can also report that someone printed out the rules to Dungeons & Dragons & left them stacked on the WaPo printer. They're still sitting unclaimed.

...my money is on @PostBaron.