Undeterred by his ongoing Aberdeenshire debacle, Donald Trump has reined in his world-beating hubris (just a little) and set his sights on running a public course in the Bronx.
Last night, the New York City Franchise and Concession Review Committee (or the NYCFCRC, for the cool kids among you) voted 5-1 in favour of allowing the suspiciously-coiffured property magnate to assume control of a $180 million project at Ferry Point Park.
Unsurprisingly, some people have a problem with this.
In exchange for the right to manage the project, which is not scheduled to be completed until 2014, Trump will a pay a licensing fee of 7% annual gross revenue or $300,000, depending on which is greater. That fee is scheduled to rise over time, eventually culminating in a final-year charge of 10% annual gross revenue or $470,000.
Already a reasonable rate given the course’s location and catchment area, the scale of the licensing fee becomes downright baffling when viewed in the context of two key caveats:
First of all, the self-claimed billionaire won’t begin paying the licensing fee until the course – which will likely charge a green fee in the region of $125 -enters its sixth year of operation. Plus, the city itself will fund the venue’s construction.
Someone worked some wizardry in the boardroom.
Conor Nagle