Now that Donald Trump is the President of the United States, he no longer calls 725 5th Avenue in Manhattan, otherwise known as Trump Tower, his home. But despite the fact that the president no longer resides in the building that bears him name, security at the building is still top notch. Now, while that security means peace of mind for the residents who live there, it also makes the lives of the residents of the building exponentially more difficult. This, among other reasons, is making a particular apartment in Trump Tower a tough sell for people looking to live in Midtown Manhattan.
A particular one-bedroom apartment on the 35th floor of Trump Tower is currently listed for a cool $5,250 a month – this includes a month of free rent and security fit for a president. While many would think that an apartment in the building that the President of the United States built would be an easy sell to prospective tenants, the apartment has been on the market since June, with the price being cut 30 percent since it was originally listed.
There are a bevy of reasons why the apartment has been a tough sell. For one, according to Hon Kevin Tsun, the broker who is marketing the apartment, "there's a lot of competition, and you have a lot of choices [in the New York City real estate market]." The median asking rent price for Manhattan apartments has dipped considerably over the past few years, which has undoubtedly made it more difficult for Trump Tower to rent out the apartment on the 35th floor.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
In addition to falling rent prices in Manhattan, one of the biggest issues that many residents have is the high level of security that the building now requires. While the security checkpoints ensure that the residents are safe at all times, it also makes things such as car service, food drop off and dry cleaning drop off extremely inconvenient.
"It's a luxury building, and if you have a car service come pick you up and it's pouring rain, and you have security checkpoints, you're looking at walking around the block … You're adding this complication for day-to-day accessibility," said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel real estate, to Bloomberg.
In addition, would-be residents would be questioned in the lobby regularly, and would have to submit to bag searches. Add onto that the protests that take place in close proximity to the building on a regular basis, and one can understand why living at Trump Tower may not be all what it's made out to be.
If you don't mind the security hassles and the $5,250 per-month rent, perhaps the apartment on the 35th floor of Trump Tower is for you.
