Donald Trump sues Ramat Gan developer

Crescent Heights sold the Elite lot, slated for the Trump Tower, to Azorim.

The Trump Organization, owned by Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan Supreme Court against Crescent Heights Diamond, owned by Sonny Kahan. Trump says that Kahan licensed the name "Trump Plaza" for a 70-story residential and commercial tower it planned in Ramat Gan. Trump was to get a 25% cut on each unit sold, plus other royalties on what would have been Israel's tallest building.

Trump claims that after he promoted the project, Crescent Heights stiffed him by selling the land for which it paid $44 million in April 2007 to another developer for $80 million - a profit of $36 million. The buyer was Azorim Investment, Development and Construction Ltd. (TASE: AZRM), controlled by chairman Shaya Boymelgreen.

Trump told the "New York Post", "They announce with tremendous fanfare that Trump is their partner. Then, instead of building, they flip the site. They used my name to pump up the value, then made a big profit. We put this site on the map, and under the contract they are obligated to complete the project. They are not good representatives for the great state of Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves."

Crescent Heights Miami headquarters was unavailable for comment. The company's attorney Saul Sack said that Trump "is not entitled to any compensation… The lawsuit is without merit."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 18, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018