Trump Tower Inks First Retail Tenant 17 Years After Opening

The retail space at the ground floor of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago finally has a tenant after 17 years.

Prasino, a Mediterranean café, is slated to open a roughly 3K SF location next spring in terrace space at the 1,389-foot tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave, CoStar News reported. The lease is still a fraction of the 70K SF of retail available at the tower, which has never had a tenant since the building opened in 2009. 

Trump Tower is the largest building President Donald Trump has ever developed and is the second-tallest building in Chicago, trailing only the Willis Tower, which rises 1,451 feet.

Trump Tower's retail has struggled to lease for a variety of reasons. The space lacks street frontage and is curved, with a relatively low height. The prominent "Trump" name displayed on the side of the tower has also turned off some would-be retailers, according to Crain's Chicago Business. 

Newmark's group of James Schutter, Larry Kling, Jason Pruger, Jason Stein, Tim Newman and Simon Carson represents the space now, but brokers from RKF, A-R-C Real Estate Group and Cushman & Wakefield helmed previous leasing efforts.

Schutter told Crain's that dividing the property into smaller spaces helped to attract prospective tenants, and he called the lease an exciting first step. 

A spokesperson for Prasino told Crain's that the location is key to the company's overall growth strategy and gives it a high-profile downtown presence along the river. The restaurant plans to open additional locations in Fulton Market and the Loop to complement its original location in La Grange, according to the outlet. 

The same property caught heat in 2024 after a report found Trump may have claimed improper tax breaks on the tower. Trump's project lost money through a combination of cost overruns and opening during the Global Financial Crisis. But as the president sought tax benefits for the losses he incurred from the 92-story tower, the IRS argued he effectively wrote off the same losses twice.