Raising the Roof reports that Newland International Properties Corp, the developer building the Donald Trump licensed Ocean Club in Panama City has requested a local court grant legal protection from Jumeirah Group, the developers of the iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai. While the Dubai developers have yet to file a lawsuit, there have been accusations that the Trump condominium under construction shares a similar sailboat motif as seen in the Burj Al Arab, and that it may infringe on the design of the ten year old Dubai hotel.
It is unclear as to whether anything will actually come from the dispute, or whether there is any legal precedent for such as suit. It seems unlikely, given that the Trump Ocean Club is one of the highest profile developments in Panama City, that the Panama government would take any action against Newland Developers. While the two buildings do share similarities, they are both based on a well known mast and sail motif, making it less convincing that they are infringing on the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
Here are some pictures for comparison:
-
- The Trump Ocean Club
I love that the rendering of the Trump Ocean Club shows the building sitting solitary on the ocean’s edge. There should be a lawsuit against awful architecture!
Trump Panama is a total con. Investors were told to pay 30% deposit and leading banks including HSBC and CitiBank were all lined up to finance the high profile development. Now, 6 months before completion if the building, Trump have passed us all through to their prefered mortgage broker who has immediately told us that Trump Panama is nearly 6 times over the maximum the banks will lend as they calculate it on square footage. Then they reduce the loan by 30% just to build in a safety margin even though we have all paid 30% deposit. Net result is that you can only get a mortgage of 13% of the purchase price – NOT the 70% we were all promised. So now its effectively an all cash deal and with prices already 20 to 40% down on the original purchase price its a complete write off and anyone like myself who needs finance now has no option but to walk away and lose $120K USD. Trump of course don’t want to know and certainly won’t help their investors.
Many of us investors now won’t trust Trump ever again. Its a huge loss to have to absorb and all because Trump were not upfront at the start but were so keen to take my money. The Trump brand stands for nothing and is totally worthless in my eyes. Anyone thinking of investing be warned !
This is a great oppurtunity. I’ll be sure to send it out to my investors. Thank you!