Trump pitches $3 billion in condos at Miami-area golf course

Donald Trump wants to sell more high-end condos in the U.S., this time using a famously difficult Florida golf course as a draw.

The former president’s family business is seeking to build residences and retail inside the Trump National Doral Miami resort, according to documents posted on a City of Doral website. The property covers more than 600 acres and currently features a hotel and four golf courses, including the Blue Monster, which is notorious among golfers for its numerous water hazards.

Construction of the new “Trump-branded project” is expected to cost between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, according to Felix Lasarte, a Miami-based attorney who is representing the Trump company developing it.

The Doral project will “be incredible for home values and great for the community all around,” said Eric Trump, who leads the Trump Organization alongside his brother, Donald Trump Jr. “It’s going to be a world-class development.”

The proposal would encompass building 1,498 residential units and 141,694 square feet of commercial development in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. Lasarte said in an interview that the plan includes five towers, each about 20 stories high, as well as townhouses.

Prices for the condos would start at $2 million, with sales expected to kick off next year, depending on permitting, he said.

“If you go to Doral, it’s a nice suburban community, then when you go inside that country club, the people that visit it are very wealthy people,” Lasarte said. “I think this is going to be an opportunity to capitalize on that.”

The project will need to clear a key hurdle on Wednesday, when the Doral City Council is expected to vote on whether to alter zoning rules for a portion of the property to allow for condos and retail. City staff have recommended that the council approve the change, according to city documents.

Revenue generator

The condo plan could prop up the value of a property that has been one of the biggest revenue generators for the Trump Organization.

Even if Trump fails to ultimately build anything else on the Doral property, the changes in zoning, as well as a recent multimillion-dollar tax easement on the Blue Monster golf course, could already make it more valuable on paper.

Trump, 78, saw a massive increase in his wealth earlier this year thanks to a boost from his social media startup. While some of the euphoria around Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. faded, it still provides a significant addition on paper to the Republican presidential nominee’s roughly $5.3 billion net worth.

Trump’s real estate portfolio is valued at $2.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Trump National Doral accounts for $305 million of that, with $125 million in associated debt (Trump refinanced the property with a loan from San Diego-based Axos Financial Inc.).

Still, a hot local market and potential development opportunities could make that a low estimate. The Trump Organization said it received a bid of $1.5 billion for the property last year, contingent on zoning approvals that would allow residential development.

Trump had announced plans to build 2,300 luxury homes in Doral in January 2022, but ended up scaling back those ambitions.

In the meantime, Trump made another deal with the city of Doral, gaining a conservation-easement tax break in exchange for promising not to build atop the Blue Monster. The pact calls the course an important tourist attraction — as well as a habitat for threatened birds including the little blue heron and the wood stork.

More easements

The easement shrank the property’s fair market value to $345 million from $668 million, producing a potential $323 million tax deduction, according to an IRS form that made public record as part of the 2022 agreement. The size of the potential deduction was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Lasarte, the lawyer, said that the Trump Organization plans to pursue similar conservation easements on the property’s other golf courses.

While much of Trump’s reputation as a TV star and developer stems from his time in New York, his businesses are increasingly focused elsewhere.

His social-media company is based in Sarasota, on Florida’s Gulf Coast. He and most of his extended family have moved to South Florida since he left the White House in 2021. And Trump is planning to build new offices in Jupiter, at his golf club there, The Palm Beach Post reported this year.

The Trump Organization has also been pursuing deals in the Middle East, including a luxury tower in Dubai and two other projects announced this year.

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