Tampa - "Let's go get 'em.”
With those words and a few strokes of his pen Monday morning, billionaire developer Donald Trump became the most famous person to toss his hat into the nascent condominium market in downtown Tampa.
Potential buyers began lining up - literally - right away.
"We were there until 10:30 at night, fielding calls, and people were lining up at our door,” said Toni Everett, president of The Toni Everett Co., the Tampa-based real estate firm handling sales for Trump Tower Tampa.
Everett said she had received more than 200 calls for information by Tuesday afternoon and that interest in the condominiums shows no sign of waning. On the Internet, more than 10,000 people had visited trumptowertampa.com, and more than 300 had registered for more information, according to a project spokesperson.
“This building is going to be very special,” Everett said. “It's got Trump's name attached to it. It's got impact.”
Indeed, Trump Tower Tampa has no shortage of impact.
The $220 million, 190-unit condominium, which Trump will build in partnership with a Tampa-based development group, promises to be Tampa's tallest building, with 52 stories standing 593 feet over the Hillsborough River, and one of the most expensive, with prices starting at $700,000 and running to more than $6 million.
What's more, Trump Tower Tampa adds credibility and momentum to the push to bring more residential development downtown, according to developers and downtown leaders.
The Tampa Downtown Partnership says at least 24 residential developments, all condominiums, either are under construction or on the drawing board for downtown through 2007, representing 2,689 new residential units.
The median starting price for the announced projects is $214,078, higher than the $167,100 median price for existing single-family homes in the Tampa Bay area, but less than the $700,000 starting price for Trump Tower Tampa.
Jody Simon, a managing partner at SIMDAG, said he believes there are plenty of buyers in Tampa with the money and the desire to live in a Trump-brand condominium. He said other development projects geared toward people with high incomes, such as the International Plaza mall in Tampa, have succeeded.
“Folks who do their market research ... realize that Tampa is a very strong market for people with money,” he said.
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., was one of the first people to reserve a condominium, according to Howard Howell, a SIMDAG managing partner.
Michael J. McGuinness, a managing partner for another downtown condominium project, The Towers at Channelside, said he believes Trump Tower Tampa will boost demand for condominiums at every price level.
"We always welcome new developers,” he said. “I think this is good for the city without a doubt.”
McGuinness' firm is scheduled to break ground Friday on two 30-story condominium towers on Channelside Drive near the Channelside retail and entertainment complex. The Towers at Channelside will include 257 units from $300,000 to $2.1 million, but more than four-fifths of all condominiums cost around $400,000 to $500,000. About 85 percent of the units have been sold, and the towers should be ready for residents by the end of October 2006, McGuinness said.
Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, said Trump Tower Tampa will show home buyers and other developers that downtown is primed for a residential renaissance.
“Our own belief in Tampa's future is being validated with developers with experience from other cities,” she said.
SIMDAG officials say Trump Tower Tampa will play a huge role in revitalizing downtown Tampa.
“It will jump-start this movement of residential development,” Howell said. "It will move the city back to a place where people live and breathe after work.”
People may pay a premium to live in a Trump condominium because they want to associate themselves with Trump's image of business savvy and luxurious living, according to Ron Kuntze, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Tampa's Sykes College of Business.
Kuntze studies the growing phenomenon of business people who become living brands for their companies.
“I think with Donald, what we're seeing now is that he has become a popularized kind of icon for business success,” he said. “If I'm going to get a condo, and if I can say to my friends that I live in the Trump condo, I think that adds a certain amount of panache.”
A living brand might not always be an asset to his or her company, Kuntze said. Case in point: The first person to be recognized as a living brand for her company is Martha Stewart.
“Obviously, if anything bad happens to be the person, you can't dislocate the image of the person from the image of the brand,” Kuntze said. For Stewart, “her ethics coming into question have hurt the image of the brand.”