Donald Trump’s heavily mortgaged skyscraper at 40 Wall Street is on “lenders’ watch” amid declining revenue and rising costs, Bloomberg reported Friday.
The vacancy rate at the 72-story building — Trump’s most famous — jumped to nearly 18% in the third quarter of last year, according to monthly filings on outstanding mortgages of $126.5 million, Bloomberg reported.
Costs, meanwhile, have reportedly increased by 11% since the start of mortgages in 2015.
Trump often brags about the building he bought in 1995, which was valued at $540 million in 2015.
On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center and killed 3,000 people, a Trump bragged in a TV interview that 40 Wall Street suddenly became the tallest building in the city. Not only is that an insensitive statement, it’s a lie. Another skyscraper on Pine Street in Lower Manhattan became the tallest building after the destruction of the Twin Towers.
High-rise office rents in Manhattan have been declining for years, which has been exacerbated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic as many companies have closed and employees of surviving companies are working remotely.
Wells Fargo, which services the mortgage at 40 Wall Street, “has reached out to the borrower for leasing development status” and plans to improve the performance of the property, according to the filing, Bloomberg reported.