TRUMP BUSINESS: “The building that helped Donald Trump make a name for himself in his first big deal in Manhattan is being sold to developers who plan to tear it down. Developer TF Cornerstone said Thursday [2-7-19] that it and a group managing billionaire Michael Dell’s money have agreed to buy the Grand Hyatt New York next to Grand Central Terminal and replace it with a mixed-used tower that will include office and retail space and a smaller hotel. Trump partnered with the Hyatt Corp. to buy what was then the Commodore Hotel in the late 1970s in his first splash in Manhattan real estate. He refurbished it into a sleek glass tower and used its success as a stepping stone to his next big gamble a few years later, the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. Trump sold his stake in the Grand Hyatt in 1996.”
–Associates Press, “Hotel That Launched Trump to Manhattan Fame to Be Torn Down,” The New York Times online, February 7, 2019