Mexico City - The Trump Organisation appears to have
renewed its interest in developing beachfront properties at a luxury resort in
the Dominican Republic, according to the Associated Press - a move that could
call into question President Donald Trump's pledge that his company would not
launch new foreign deals while he was in office.
Eric Trump, who helps run the firm started by his father,
visited the Cap Cana resort on Feb. 2 and met with the owners, a trip
chronicled in local media. The development is larger than Manhattan and
includes polo grounds, hotels and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, told
the AP that efforts to re-engage in a project that began years ago but failed
were very preliminary. He said that the deal was never dead, even though the
project had seen no new building in a decade.
Garten did not immediately respond to a request from The
Washington Post for comment.
A decade ago, Dominican businessman Ricardo Hazoury
reached an agreement with Donald Trump to license his name for the construction
of the Trump Farallon Estates, intended to feature dozens of clifftop mansions
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The first day the properties were put up for
sale, in May 2007, the Dominican company recorded more than $300 million in
sales.
Read also: How smart money can survive the Trump era
But the financial crisis in 2008 threw the project into
disarray and the Trump estates never materialised. The resort's finances were
"precarious on the best of days and more akin to bungee jumping,"
Hazoury's brother Fernando wrote in a 2009 letter to Eric Trump that became
public in court papers. Buyers took steep losses and a Dominican bank
repossessed many of the lots.
Trump's organization sued Cap Cana in 2012, accusing the
company of owing it $14 million. The two sides settled for an undisclosed
amount. The land where the Trump Estates were supposed to be is now overgrown
with weeds.
Cap Cana is a large beach resort near the town of Punta Cana
in the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic. The Trump Farallon Estates was
one of the projects planned inside the resort.
Eric Trump's trip to Cap Cana last week revived
speculation that his organization was interested in getting involved again in the
project. The resort issued a statement after the visit saying that Trump had
met with Ricardo and Fernando Hazoury, and that "we are enthusiastic to
work with the Trump Organization in future phases of the project."
A spokeswoman for the Hazoury brothers did not respond
Thursday to questions about its plans with Trump.
Concerns
Ethics experts have raised concerns that overseas
projects could create conflict-of-interest issues for President Trump,
affecting his decision-making on dealings with foreign governments. Sheri
Dillon, a lawyer for the president, told a news conference last month that
"No new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of
President Trump's presidency." Trump remains the owner of his company,
although he has put it into a trust managed by his sons.
Asked last month if there were ongoing projects involving
the Hazoury brothers and the Trump organization, Garten wrote in an email to
The Post that "there are no other projects with Mr. Hazoury."
Some of the buyers of the land in the Trump Farallon
Estates project lost millions on the project during the financial crisis, which
caused property values to plummet and financing to dry up.
William Ganz III, a Baltimore real estate agent,
purchased one of the Trump lots but was not able to finish construction because
he ran out of money. He said in a phone interview that he didn't have details
about Eric Trump's latest plans for Cap Cana but was hopeful.
"I'm kind of just trying to get a state of the union
on what's going on" with the resort, he said. "Maybe now it makes
sense for a couple people to put their heads together to finish this
project."
Joel Santos Echavarria, the president of the Association
of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic, said that if the Trump
Organization decided to invest again in Cap Cana, "it would be very
interesting, because his is a brand recognized around the world." "I
believe the Dominican Republic can attract the most important investors in the
United States and around the world," he said.
The Hazourys are still being sued by some buyers in Cap
Cana who allege that the company did not deliver certain developments that they
had promised. The Hazourys have denied any wrongdoing.