Trump's newest building, in left-leaning Vancouver, has been profitable for its Malaysian partners from the get-go. But they may already regret doing the deal
Joo Kim Tiah, the CEO of publicly traded TA Global, is the face of the $275 million Vancouver development
Image: Jamel Toppins for Forbes
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony in late February for the world’s newest Trump building, a 69-storey tower of twisted-glass rising above downtown Vancouver, an in-house mixologist demonstrated how to make the hotel’s signature cocktail. The $18.5 Juniper’s Knot is the type of gratuitous luxury the Trump Organization has exported around the globe, with five kinds of rum, oxidised ruby port, juniper berries, white truffle and a house-made marshmallow with bitters and peach brandy.
But not even a grand pour of evaporated liquid nitrogen could distract reporters from the scene just outside the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the Trump Champagne Lounge. Less than a hundred feet away, on the sidewalk, about 200 people braved the snowy morning to chant slogans and beat drums. When the hotel deal was negotiated in 2012, no one expected this scripted corporate affair would be marred by protesters, surrounded by police, with signs that called Donald Trump a “pervert”, “usurper” and “fascist”.
At this junction of cultivated opulence and spontaneous, raw anger sits Trump partner Joo Kim Tiah, the son of a Malaysian financial tycoon who serves as the face of the $275 million Vancouver development.
Onstage at the February 28 ribbon-cutting, flanked by Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, Tiah looked even younger than his 37 years. He praised God, his parents and the US president himself for their help in making this project a reality—and thanked the Trumps “for entrusting me with your family’s coveted brand”.
According to early returns, that brand association looks like a good deal even with the undisclosed fee paid to the Trump Organization (typically about 5 percent of gross revenues). Tiah told Forbes that his two family-controlled firms, which each invested about $138 million in the building, have already made a good return after having sold all but three of the 217 residential units for a total of $340 million.
(This story appears in the 28 April, 2017 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)