SAN DIEGO (AP) - Stephen and Linda Drake cast aside concerns about owning property in Mexico because they believed in Donald Trump.
The Southern California couple paid $250,000 down payment on a 19th-floor oceanfront condo in Trump Ocean Resort Baja in 2006 before the first construction crew arrived.
But admiration for the celebrity developer and star of "The Apprentice" has now turned into anger and disbelief as Trump's luxury hotel-condo plan collapsed, leaving little more than a hole in the ground and investors out of their deposits, which totaled $32.2 million.
Investors were told last month their money was spent and they won't get a penny back.
A single mother in suburban Los Angeles lost $200,000 and won't be able to send her sons to private universities. A Los Angeles-area businessman lost a deposit of more than $1 million on four Trump units, including two penthouses.
The project's collapse comes at a delicate time for Trump, whose casino company, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection last month. He also is embroiled in a lawsuit to avoid paying debt on the struggling Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
Trump and his children heavily promoted the northern tip of Mexico's Baja California coast. He sold 188 units for $122 million the first day they went on a sale at a lavish event in a downtown San Diego hotel in December 2006.
Ivanka Trump told the AP in 2007 that her father "is the boss" when asked about his role in the project.
"He is involved in every capacity," she said.
In response to a request to interview Donald and Ivanka Trump, the Trump Organization issued a statement that said its partner violated an agreement to license the Trump name, missing deadlines to obtain financing and begin construction.
All that remains of Trump Baja is a highway billboard with a large photo of Donald Trump that advertises condos for sale. It hovers over a closed sales center and showroom, a paved parking lot, a big hole that cuts a wide swath, drainage pipes and construction equipment.
Trump Baja demanded about 30 percent down for units that sold from less than $300,000 to $3 million, buyers said.
Buyers pressed for updates as construction fell behind schedule. They got a bombshell letter in December that said negotiations for a construction loan from German bank WestLB AG collapsed and Trump Baja had only $556,000 left. It quoted a contract clause that gave the developer a right to spend their deposits.
Another letter came in January that said Trump was removing his name.
A Feb. 16 letter from a Mexican entity, PB Impulsores, said the project was scrapped "given the extreme dislocation of the financial markets." It said there was no money left to refund deposits.
Full story:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96ONQO00&show_article=1
The Southern California couple paid $250,000 down payment on a 19th-floor oceanfront condo in Trump Ocean Resort Baja in 2006 before the first construction crew arrived.
But admiration for the celebrity developer and star of "The Apprentice" has now turned into anger and disbelief as Trump's luxury hotel-condo plan collapsed, leaving little more than a hole in the ground and investors out of their deposits, which totaled $32.2 million.
Investors were told last month their money was spent and they won't get a penny back.
A single mother in suburban Los Angeles lost $200,000 and won't be able to send her sons to private universities. A Los Angeles-area businessman lost a deposit of more than $1 million on four Trump units, including two penthouses.
The project's collapse comes at a delicate time for Trump, whose casino company, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection last month. He also is embroiled in a lawsuit to avoid paying debt on the struggling Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
Trump and his children heavily promoted the northern tip of Mexico's Baja California coast. He sold 188 units for $122 million the first day they went on a sale at a lavish event in a downtown San Diego hotel in December 2006.
Ivanka Trump told the AP in 2007 that her father "is the boss" when asked about his role in the project.
"He is involved in every capacity," she said.
In response to a request to interview Donald and Ivanka Trump, the Trump Organization issued a statement that said its partner violated an agreement to license the Trump name, missing deadlines to obtain financing and begin construction.
All that remains of Trump Baja is a highway billboard with a large photo of Donald Trump that advertises condos for sale. It hovers over a closed sales center and showroom, a paved parking lot, a big hole that cuts a wide swath, drainage pipes and construction equipment.
Trump Baja demanded about 30 percent down for units that sold from less than $300,000 to $3 million, buyers said.
Buyers pressed for updates as construction fell behind schedule. They got a bombshell letter in December that said negotiations for a construction loan from German bank WestLB AG collapsed and Trump Baja had only $556,000 left. It quoted a contract clause that gave the developer a right to spend their deposits.
Another letter came in January that said Trump was removing his name.
A Feb. 16 letter from a Mexican entity, PB Impulsores, said the project was scrapped "given the extreme dislocation of the financial markets." It said there was no money left to refund deposits.
Full story:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96ONQO00&show_article=1
