Question of the Day - 11 December 2021

Well, to be technical, Donald Trump’s condo project was half-completed. Trump International was originally intended as a two-tower condominium complex, and Trump and Phil Ruffin still own a half-dozen acres where Tower Two was meant to arise. Demand, however, didn’t warrant it and single-tower Trump International stands in splendid isolation.

You’re right on the money about Ivana Trump’s eponymous condo tower. It would have been built at the southern tip of the City of Las Vegas, across Sahara Avenue from the Sahara, on the site of the Holy Cow! brew pub and casino, a space now occupied by a mega-Walgreens. It was originally announced in August 2004 as The Summit and subsequently redubbed Ivana Las Vegas in 2005. It was planned to stand 923 feet high, encompassing 73 floors, exceeding the then-Stratosphere by 23 feet.

“Ivana will place her imprint on the super tower by designing the interiors for each of the 11 types of units,” boasted PR at the time. “Unique in size and layout, each will be named after Ivana's favorite jet-setting destinations, such as St. Tropez, Calais and Monaco.”

Indicative of the project’s level of seriousness was a search for “the 12 hottest construction men in America,” to be exposed in a calendar benefiting an unnamed charity. “In addition to being featured in the calendar, the winners may have an opportunity to land an apprentice job with the Las Vegas construction company signed to build the tower.”

Ivana’s real selling point, according to VegasTripping.com, was “easier financing and lower down payments, translating into better leverage for second-home buyers.” Hospitality.net went into a frenzy, declaring that, thanks to the Ivana, the north Strip was “developing as the hottest end of the ribbon of gold that is the Las Vegas Strip.” (This was 16 years before Resorts World.) “There will be restaurants, bars, a spa, shops, gyms, 24-hour concierge service, and a host of other amenities befitting a five-star facility,” said Victor Altomare, CEO of Sahara Condominiums and the brains of the outfit. Mayor Oscar Goodman was duly trotted out to call the project “iconic.” “I will forever dominate the skyline of Las Vegas,” boasted Mrs. Trump.

One day before Trump International broke ground, some 1,500 real estate agents were summoned to the Bellagio Grand Ballroom to be pitched on Ivana Las Vegas. All the king’s real estate agents, however, couldn’t put a 73-story mega-condo tower together. Unlike her ex-husband, Ivana had no skin in the game, merely lending it a glamorous façade. Or, as PR Web put it, she was “investing her world-class fame.” Besides, as Coldwell Banker realtor Katherine Bustinas observed, "There are 30 other high-rise projects in town. I'm not going to focus on just one.”

Indeed, that glut of condo projects, almost all of which never panned out, helped spell the doom of Ivana Las Vegas. That didn’t prevent Century 21 realtor Jessica Berney from naively predicting, "Ivana Trump is a huge public figure. She wouldn't put her name on something that wasn't quality or that wouldn't make it.” (The bankruptcy of an Ivana-branded condo project in Miami in 2004 notwithstanding.)

The next thing to happen was … nothing. Visitors to the sales center were treated to “smoke machines, loud music, and flashing lights,” an apt metaphor for the insubstantial project. Escalating construction costs were blamed for the project’s ultimate demise. Extravagant promises of financing from Altomare never solidified into anything concrete. Ditto the $1 billion in profits, to be generated from sales to Asian and Australian high rollers.

Still, 487 condo units out of the planned 945 actually sold (two to Mrs. Trump), which should have triggered construction financing, but apparently didn’t. Prices were also at the very top of the condo market, which may have inhibited sales — and the success of Ivana Las Vegas was predicated on the critical mass that was to be created by the openings of Fontainebleau (still unfinished) and then-Echelon Place, now Resorts World.

On December 14, 2005, the land quietly went back on the market for $49 million. Still, Altomare claimed to have “a very credible buyer” who would turn the acreage into a hotel-casino. (Didn’t happen.) The 2.7 acres went off the market for a while, then back  in May 2007, it was re-listed at $50 million. It ultimately sold late that year, marked down to $47 million. Were it not for Ivana Trump’s notoriety, it’s likely that Ivana Las Vegas/Summit would have gone down the memory hole that has consumed the rest of the Vegas condo boom that almost was.