Trump Tower project in Buenos Aires cancelled
Source: La Nacion
A few days after the shocking victory of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election, a rumor began circulating that Trump planned to disembark in Buenos Aires with a luxury tower. The rumor was confirmed at the time, and ground-breaking was expected to begin in mid-2017 on the tower.
The $100 million project included a 35-story tower with a total of 47,000 m² (505,000 ft²) of floor space, was scheduled for completion in 2020. The project, according to its Argentine developers however, was suspended indefinitely.
"The Trump family decided to cancel all works outside the United States that had not yet begun," Juan José Cugliandolo, CEO of YY Development Group, told the media today. "The reality is that due to the changing political landscape in the United States, we'll leave any decisions as to future steps to them (Trump). There is nothing concrete."
The controversy in the United States over Trump's potential conflicts of interest reached Argentina on November 20 when Jorge Lanata's current events program, Periodismo para todos ('Journalism for All'), aired a segment by Romina Manguel that revealed that in the first telephone conversation between Trump and Argentine President Mauricio Macri after the election, Macri had received a special request to expedite the necessary permits for the project - a prerogative of the City of Buenos Aires, not the Argentine president.
The news had repercussions in American media, and the project - which the city never approved - has not been discussed since.
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And with construction down close to 15% since Macri implemented IMF austerity - by decree - a year ago, goodness knows a lot of those men could have used the work.
It's also a shame in the urbanistic sense, since the project would have helped revitalize Buenos Aires' midtown area - an area, just west of downtown, of faded elegance and sometimes outright dilapidation.
Certainly beats having a drab, old parking lot.
