Trump, Wood Project Rumor Intensifies

All representatives of the parties involved deny the venture is going forward even though the players have talked about the project for at least two years, knowledgeable Midtown sources tell GlobeSt.com. Andy Litinsky, a coordinator in the Trump Organization's development division, says he hasn't heard anything definite.

However, a little-publicized land acquisition by Wood Partners in March is fueling new speculation on the Trump-Wood enterprise, sources tell GlobeSt.com. At that time, Wood bought a 2.48-acre parking lot from Aeroswed Corp. and the 3216 Piedmont LLC at 1252 W. Peachtree St. for $21.25 million. The speculated Trump-Wood project would be built on that site which is across from the Arts Center Marta station, between Spring and West Peachtree streets in Midtown. The 15th Street development site is behind the Woodruff Arts Center and High Museum of Art and just across Interstate 85/75 from Atlantic Station.

The parking lot price equates to $8.57 million per acre or $196.70 per sf, the highest per-acre price recorded in metro Atlanta, according to GlobeSt.com research. The previous high was the $5.89 million per acre Atlanta developer John A. Williams paid local developer David Songy and his Songy Partners in August 2004, as Globest.com previously reported.

A pending $6-million per-acre deal for two Midtown acres by Birmingham, AL-based Daniel Corp. and locally based Selig Enterprises next to the Federal Reserve building would be the second-highest per-acre transaction on record, according to GlobeSt.com research.

The rumored Trump-Wood Midtown project could rise to 56 stories, topping the tallest commercial building in the Southeast, the 55 story, 14-year-old Bank of America Plaza. Construction sources who have noted the progress of Trump's under-construction, 52-story Trump Tower Tampa in Tampa, FL tell GlobeSt.com the Midtown project would have a hard construction cost comparable to at least the Tampa venture. That undertaking--the tallest in Tampa-- is going up at a development cost of $260 million or about $1.3 million per condo home, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. The Trump-Wood project is expected to cost at least $300 million.

The rumored timeframe for the completion of the Trump-Wood condo-hotel project is 2010. That would mean the venture would have to break ground no later than 2007, area general contractors who have worked on comparable projects tell GlobeSt.com. The proposed venture would have at least 300 condominium homes with a speculated selling price range of $1 million to $7 million per home, according to Atlanta condominium marketers familiar with Trump's completed projects in other markets.

Wood Partners' associates in the Trump project are rumored to be Michael Dezer and his son Gil who joint ventured with Trump in 2002 on the $600-million, 972-unit Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences in Miami Beach, as GlobeSt.com reported Feb. 2, 2002. Dezer Development Co. is based in Sunny Isles Beach, a northern extension of Miami Beach.

Atlanta developer Marty Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Capital Group, is also rumored to be a partner or advisor in the Trump-Wood enterprise, Midtown real estate investment sources tell GlobeSt.com. Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr., and daughter Ivanka are other members of the Trump Organization participating in preliminary discussions on the condo-hotel project, according to sources.

Besides Trump Tower Tampa, a similar venture called Trump International Hotel & Tower New Orleans, is also planned for the Louisiana city at an undetermined date, as GlobeSt.com reported in August 2005.