Trump Tower plan for Australia’s Gold Coast scrapped three months after launch

[SYDNEY] The Trump Organization has scrapped plans to put its name to a tower on Australia’s Gold Coast, about three months after announcing a deal to bring the brand’s first hotel to the country.

The 91-storey hotel and apartment project in Surfers Paradise will no longer carry the Trump brand after its Australian partner, Altus Property Group, failed to meet its obligations, the Trump Organization said.

“After months of negotiations and empty promise after empty promise, on a supposed US$1.5 billion project, Altus Property Group was unable to meet the most basic financial obligation due upon the execution of the agreement,” the statement said. “We look forward to exploring other potential projects and bringing a Trump property to Australia soon.”

Altus Property chief executive officer David Young said that the Trump brand was increasingly unpopular in Australia.

“Some time ago, we knew it was time to part company. It wasn’t about not meeting obligations,” Young said in a statement. “We are negotiating with the top brands around the world, of which The Trump Organization was one. The project is continuing.”

Altus has previously said that the tower was expected to become Australia’s tallest and cost just under A$1.5 billion (S$1.4 billion).

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Australia’s first Trump-branded hotel planned for Gold Coast

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A petition by the Australian left-wing advocacy group GetUp! opposing the Trump Tower development has attracted more than 120,000 signatures since the project was announced. BLOOMBERG