Donald Trump announces $360M Vancouver hotel-condo tower

Donald Trump is photographed during a news conference for the new Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver. June 19, 2013.

What has become one of the city’s worst-kept development secrets is finally official: billionaire business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump is lending his brand to a new Vancouver project.

The real estate magnate announced the new $360-million Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver at a press event at the future building site Tuesday afternoon.

He arrived in the city just hours before on a private jet from Los Angeles, flanked by daughter Ivanka and sons Donald Jr. and Eric.

“We are thrilled to be bringing the Trump flag to Vancouver as it has become a world-class city in its own right," Trump told reporters.

Trump said he has always had a fondness for the City of Glass, and the people who live here.

"It's an amazing place. It's a beautiful place. And we're going to make it more beautiful."

The property, on West Georgia St. in the heart of downtown Vancouver, will be home to the second-highest tower in the city next to the Shangri-La Hotel.

The 63-storey tower will be completed in 2016, and feature 218 luxury residences and 147 hotel rooms.

The building will also have a champagne bar, signature restaurant, banquet and conference space and Vancouver’s first pool bar and nightclub.

Joo Kim Tiah, CEO of the developer Holborn, said the hotel will be a gathering place that “Vancouver will honour for years to come.”

“We know it will be a game changer in Vancouver,” said Tiah.

Ivanka Trump will also open Canada’s first Mar-a-Lago Spa in the property, influenced by the family’s 1927 Palm Beach property.

The future hotel site has been sitting empty for years.

The tower, which was supposed to be home to a swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel, was put on hold in 2008 after a slowdown in the luxury market. More than 50 per cent of the condos had been presold – and early buyers received a refund.

The project will retain the original twisting design created by architect Arthur Erickson.

“That means two things. It means beauty but it also means very expensive,” Trump said of the unique architecture.

“But I think it will be one of the great buildings, not just in Canada, not just in the U.S., anywhere in the world.”

Residential suites will range from 644 to 2,117-square-feet, with penthouses up to a palatial 4,400-square-feet. Pre-sales for the residences will begin in October.

Trump already has a 65-storey project in Toronto, the Trump International Hotel and Tower.