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Trump Jr slams viability of Dubai developments
updateDate = “Sunday, 06 January 2008 13:02” document.getElementById(‘crumbs-dir’).innerHTML = ‘REAL ESTATE / NEWS /’by Diana Milne on Sunday, 06 January 2008
The son of US property tycoon Donald Trump has questioned the financial viability of Dubai’s ambitious real estate developments, claiming some “can’t possibly ever happen”.
In an interview published in this month’s Arabian Property magazine, Donald Trump Jr said some of the developments were incredible in theory, but would not work out on paper.
“To me as a real estate person, but also as a financial person, some of the projects are incredible in theory, but I don’t know how they will ever work out on paper, numbers wise,” he said, without going into detail about which projects he had concerns about.
“There are clearly some [projects] that are just in my opinion out of this world and that can’t possibly ever happen.”
Trump Jr, vice president of the Trump Organisation, is currently working on the company’s first Middle East development, the Trump International Hotel and Tower on the Palm Jumeirah.
He also criticised the quality of construction in the emirate, claiming the interiors of some buildings he had visited did not meet international standards.
“There are some incredible buildings in Dubai that are architecturally very nice from the exterior, but I think some of the interior finishings have always been lacking,” he said.
“If you took a New York building versus a comparable Dubai building you’d see a lot of differences in the interior finishings.
“These may be minor details that perhaps most people don’t see but people like myself and my father who have an eye for that kind of detail really notice.”
Despite his concerns, Trump Jr said other developments would be “phenomenal” and that Dubai’s property market was set for continued success.
“Dubai has created itself as the epicentre, as kind of the Wall Street of the Middle East. It has oil money, all the influx of capital that’s coming in from Asia and it’s central in the world,” he said.
“And as money keeps coming in I think it can sustain a lot of that boom.”
He said Trump Organisation would “definitely” be looking to develop more projects in Dubai and other parts of the Middle East once construction of the Trump International Hotel and Tower was finished.
“We want to get this [the Trump International] locked away then we will be looking,” Trump Jr said, adding that he saw Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as good areas for future development.
He also said the Trump Organisation is currently in talks over two hotel deals, a residential development and a commercial venture in India – a country where he also sees great potential.
To read the full interview with Donald Trump Jr see pick up the January issue of Arabian Property.
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How old is this guy? But, I’m not so sure that he has the experience to say what will pan out and what won’t.
Gaston