There have been many questions regarding Trump Tower in Chicago from the start of the 2016 presidential campaign and even more now that Donald Trump is the President-Elect. Since our group does a great deal of business in Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago I thought I would take the time to answer the real estate questions many people have asked in recent months.

Does Trump actually own Trump Tower (401 N Wabash Ave) in Chicago? 

Not completely. The building is broken up into two portions. The hotel portion, which Trump does own (although some hotel rooms are owned by individual investors) ends at the 28th floor.

The residential portion are individually owned condos and Trump no longer has any interest in the residential condos. These units start at 29 and run up to 89.

In short, Trump currently owns the majority of hotel rooms, the management company / brand that manages the hotel as well as all the convention and retail space in the building.

Will the name of Trump Tower in Chicago ever change?

Probably not. Trump has naming rights to the building and I don’t see him changing the name on his building.

Has the Trump election and presidency affected the pricing of condos in Trump?

It is too early to tell. The one thing we have seen is traffic drastically slow down on condos listed for sale in Trump. Most selling in the building at the current time do not NEED to sell (at least financially) so we haven’t seen any major price drops. Showing traffic before the election was very very slow. I think many buyers were concerned about values in the building so potential buyers wanted to wait on the sidelines to see what would happen to values.

Since the election traffic has picked up slightly for condos listed for sale in the building, but traffic is still slow overall.

Rentals are sitting on the market longer than usual, especially 1 Bedroom rentals which we’ve seen drop in price in the past 6 months. 1 Bedrooms would typically rent for at least $3,400 or higher (many in the $3,700 to $4,000 range). We’ve seen one unit rent for only $3,000 and another drop the price to $3,150 and still sit on the market.

Overall prices have not declined drastically, but there is apprehension among buyers regarding the future value of units in the building. On the rental end I think there are some people who simply do not want to be in the building because of the name (this is also true for some owners too). But, this is not the sole reason for 1 bedrooms having a difficult time renting. New construction rental buildings are giving Trump Tower a run for their money with excellent amenities and even hotel amenities such as my building, North Water Apartments, which is connected to the Loews Hotel.

Has hotel business declined?

I can’t speak for the hotel as a whole, but the hotel-condos that we represent are seeing the same or slightly better occupancy and room rates year over year (from 2015 to 2016). I do not know the numbers for November of this year yet, but November is historically a slower month for conventional style hotels.

Is there increased security at Trump Tower?

Yes. The increased security is nothing like you’ll see at Trump Tower in New York, but increased protests has caused the hotel and residential tower in Chicago to increase security and even close the garage to the public that is connected to the building. I haven’t had any major issues accessing the building with clients in recent weeks. However one of my clients actually got locked in the garage by accident due to the increased security measures.

Paul Blackburn is a licensed Real Estate Broker and Realtor with @properties in Chicago. Paul has been selling real estate since 2007 and is part of the Skowron Group which has sold in excess of $100 million in 2016 alone. For further information or questions please feel free to contact Paul directly at Paul@pblackburn.com