Since nothing else is going on in Washington today I'm going to tweet some bits of information that prospective buyers of Trump's D.C. hotel have received.
First, it wasn't clear when Trump Org first announced that it might sell its lease whether Trump was really willing to take his name off the building (even though doing so would have driven the price down dramatically).
But Trump Org's broker is making clear: you can take the name off and you will make a lot more money than the Trumps did as owners in doing so. The booklet is filled with projections about how much $ they think a new owner could make.
Despite its occupancy in the 55 percent range, the hotel is still one of the probably top one or two priciest places to stay in the city from an average daily rate perspective. Nearly $500 a night.
The brokers (JLL) project that daily rate could grow to $789 a night by 2023, $816/night by 2024, $865 by 2024 and upwards. Those are much higher averages than any hotel in Washington has ever hit.
No expert I have spoken with has questioned the quality of the building and Trump's care of it. The marketing info shows another $650k in capital improvements this year, including a $14,688 ice cream maker!
Other improvements: new carpeting in the lobby, security bollards, security system and $264,000 worth of new furniture for the main bar area.
The hotel collects about $52,809 a month from five leases, Sushi Nakazawa, suit maker Brioni, Starbucks, plus CNN and NBC for commercial antennas on the roof. Rises to $61,174 by end of 2023. @timcarman the sushi guys pay ~$15,500/month
@timcarman So I guess the Trump DC hotel literally helps CNN and NBC transmit their news by leasing antenna space to them. Trump and CNN are business partners!
@timcarman Lastly: It'd be difficult in any circumstances to guess how much this property (a federal lease in extremely unique building) would sell for. You're looking for that one buyer who will outbid the market. Question is whether Trump will find that and who it will be.
Thanks, bye!
Thanks, bye!
